The Only Heir
by ImpossibleNightmare
Summary: Cerulean is an unusual dragonet, with many questions left unanswered and a past that she has yet to discover. As all of the SeaWing princesses have mysteriously died before their hatching, she has been selected to take the queen's place on the throne in the future. She has lots to learn, about the queen, about the kingdom, about the mysterious deaths, but mostly, about herself.
1. Prologue

I do not own Wings of Fire.

To those of you who have been reading this before I posted the prologue...sorry this isn't a new chapter, but I think it'll be pretty interesting anyway! I was thinking, and I wanted to make this story as close to the real Wings of Fire books as possible, so of course that meant I needed a prologue! And also some descriptions regarding all of the dragon tribes...so enjoy!

* * *

 **MUDWINGS**

 **Description:** thick, armored brown scales, sometimes with amber and gold underscales; large, flat heads with nostrils on top of the snout.

 **Abilities:** can breathe fire (if warm enough), hold their breath for up to an hour, blend into large mud puddles; usually very strong.

 **Queen:** Queen Moorhen.

 **SEAWINGS**

 **Description:** blue or green or aquamarine scales; webs between their claws; gills on their necks; glow-in-the-dark stripes on their tails/snouts/underbellies.

 **Abilities:** can breathe underwater, see in the dark, create huge waves with one splash of their powerful tails; excellent swimmers.

 **Queen:** (Not going to say)

 **RAINWINGS**

 **Description:** scales constantly shift colors, usually bright like birds of paradise; prehensile tails.

 **Abilities:** can camouflage their scales to blend into their surroundings, use their prehensile tails for climbing; have venom in teeth.

 **Queen:** Queen Glory.

 **SANDWINGS**

 **Description:** pale gold or white scales the color of desert sand; poisonous barbed tail; forked black tongues.

 **Abilities:** can survive a long time without water, poison enemies with the tips of their tails like scorpions, bury themselves for camouflage in the desert sand, breathe fire.

 **Queen:** Queen Thorn.

 **SKYWINGS**

 **Description:** red-gold or orange scales; enormous wings.

 **Abilities:** powerful fighters and fliers, can breathe fire.

 **Queen:** Queen Ruby.

 **ICEWINGS**

 **Description:** silvery scales like the moon or pale blue like ice; ridged claws to grip the ice; forked blue tongues; tails narrow to a whip-thin end.

 **Abilities:** can withstand subzero temperatures and bright light, exhale a deadly freezing breath.

 **Queen:** Queen Glacier.

 **NIGHTWINGS**

 **Description:** purplish-black scales and scattered silver scales on the underside of their wings, like a night sky full of stars; forked black tongues.

 **Abilities:** can breathe fire, disappear into dark shadows, if hatched under the moons, they can read minds, foretell the future.

 **Queen:** Queen Glory (?).

* * *

 **Prologue**

There was a prophecy, spoken of many years ago by a NightWing who believed he could see the future. There was a prophecy, repeated over and over by the multitudes of dragons in Pyrrhia, in lines of haunting rhyming. There was a prophecy that promised an end to the battle and bloodshed that raged over the once fairly peaceful lands every day, taking the lives of many dragons who didn't really know what they were fighting for, or why. There was a prophecy that spoke of five destined dragonets, who would hatch on the brightest night of all, who would fly over the land and somehow end the war after twenty years.

It was a prophecy that dragons both loved and hated. Those who hated it would stop at nothing to prevent it from happening, even if it meant killing innocent dragonets who might be born on the brightest night. Those who loved it wrote songs about it, rallying music that stirred hope into the souls of all who heard, promising a better life where there was no endless fighting.

 _When the war has lasted twenty years, the dragonets will come._

And so the battling pressed onward, and each victory was something to be celebrated, and each loss, while a setback and a punishment in their favor, was to be celebrated too, because it was one step closer to the brightest night, to the end.

Some dragons believed so fully in the prophecy that they turned away from their tribes, ran away to join a relatively new, shifty underground peace movement that was intent on making the prophecy come true. At the time, they were so secretive that very few dragons actually knew they existed, let alone where they were. Many believed that the Talons of Peace were simply a myth, created to bring hope to those who didn't believe. Joining them was not only mad, but suicidal.

In fact, by joining, many dragons were no longer considered part of their tribe. It was a traitorous thing to do, and unlikely anything would come of it. A band of misfit dragons, anyone would be lucky to even locate them. And they were untrustworthy, cautious of all. If you did succeed at finding them, it was likely they would turn you away, and then you would have nowhere to go.

That was, if the Talons of Peace was even real.

It definitely was. Being a member of the movement himself, Webs should know. Only a few years back, he'd decided that he was tired of fighting for Blister, a dragon he'd never even met himself, and with little regret, he'd left behind his new family and fled the Kingdom of the Sea, eager to find and aid the Talons of Peace immediately.

He'd been one of the lucky. Although most of the rumors about the group were completely false, everyone was correct when they said it was difficult to locate the Talons of Peace. But at the time, the group of dragons had been fairly near the Sea Kingdom, and within several days of abandoning his tribe, Webs, had found them and joined them.

And now he'd been assigned a guardian of the yet-to-hatch dragonets of destiny, a position that was a very honorable one to have among the Talons. Along with four other dragons, he would watch over and protect the five special dragonets until they were ready for the prophecy. He'd never been good with little dragonets, but he was sure that with extra help, he wouldn't have too big a problem.

Tomorrow was the night. Three large moons would gleam promisingly in the clear night sky. They were almost full now. A cool breeze drifted across the silent peaks of the mountains, but deep underground in one of the secret caves, Webs was protected from the chilly wind. Only a distant moan from some far off cavern told him of the wind, and the slight rustling of leaves echoing from the tunnel to the left that led to above.

Tomorrow was the night. The brightest night. Tomorrow was the night when finally the end of the war would seem tangible. Tomorrow was the night when the five lives that would save many more would finally hatch into the world. Tomorrow was a night when nobody should die, no battles should be fought, and no blood should be spilled. It was a night when all should be celebrating, a victory for all, no matter what princess they supported. It was a night of new hope, a new age, a time to leave the past darkness behind.

And everything was already going wrong.

Webs was despairing, which was the opposite of what he wanted to be on a night like this. The MudWing egg was safe, unscathed by its journey from its home, but Asha was dead. It was hard to imagine that the sweet, caring, and lovable MudWing was dead. He remembered the desperate but calm look in her eyes as she handed the egg with utmost care to him upon entering their cave. She was covered in blood, her snout glazed with an expression of pain, but she didn't rush to attend to her wounds.

"I'm sorry I won't get to see them grow up," she whispered hoarsely, as she settled to the ground of the cave.

"Don't speak like that," Webs scolded gently. "We'll get you cleaned up, and then you'll be fine."

She gave him a wry smile - or an attempt at a smile - before replying, "I'm afraid that's not true." She broke off to cough, hacking up blood, and Webs realized how truly terrible her wounds were.

"Tell the others I said goodbye," she whispered, a haunting echo breathed out before death.

She was dead before her eyes closed.

The memory would probably be burned into Webs's mind forever, no matter how he tried to think of other things. And he didn't know that the night would only grow more despairing.

There was shuffling coming from the entrance tunnel to the cave where Webs stood. He was sure it was Kestrel, but his heart beat frantically with an intimidating warning, _it's someone else, someone else coming to ruin the prophecy and to kill you._

"I stand with the Talons of Peace," Webs hissed out, trying to cover his terror with menace. "Kestrel?" - he prayed that it truly was her - "Is that you?"

"We await the wings of fire," came an answer, and Webs relaxed, relieved to hear Kestrel's familiar voice. Though she was grumpy and rather mean, her company was much better than standing alone and waiting apprehensively. Stepping into her line of sight, Webs tried to clamp down his joy at seeing her, peering behind her shoulder to see Hvitur, their IceWing guardian, emerge behind her. But oddly, he wasn't there.

Seeming to read his mind, Kestrel tossed a fragment of eggshell at his feet. "Not that it'll do us much good now," she snarled. "Hvitur is dead."

 _No,_ thought Webs in horror, staring at the eggshell. _First Asha. Not Hvitur too! Please say, at least, the SkyWing egg survived. By the moons, the world can't be that cruel._

"But - the SkyWing egg - "

"Broken," Kestrel said. Webs thought he detected a glimmer of regret in her voice. "Gone. It's over, Webs."

"It can't be!" he protested. All his life, this is what it had been adding up to! It couldn't just come to nothing! "Tomorrow is the brightest night. The three moons will all be full for the first time in a century. The dragonets of the prophecy _have_ to hatch tomorrow." _The prophecy can't be wrong. It's the future, isn't it?_

"Well, one of them is already dead," Kestrel said, and Webs felt momentarily alarmed with the anger he saw in her eyes. "I knew I should have stolen the SkyWing egg myself. I know the Sky Kingdom. They wouldn't have caught me a second time."

Webs grimaced. _If she'd gone, Hvitur would still be alive, and the SkyWing dragonet too, maybe. But maybe not. Asha returned to her kingdom too, but she died..._

"Asha is dead, too," Webs told the SkyWing.

"Asha?" Kestrel repeated, and a she breathed a small plume of flame. "How?"

Webs sighed. A battle had been going on this night, when no blood should've been spilled, and nobody should've died. "Caught in a battle between Blaze's and Blister's forces on the way here. She still made it with the red MudWing egg, but she died of her wounds soon after."

"So it's just you, me, and Dune to raise the little worms," Kestrel growled.

 _We're the ones who have the least amount of experience with dragonets,_ Webs thought. _And the ones who are only going to watch them for the Talons of Peace, and for the future._

Asha and Hvitur were the ones who'd wanted dragonets.

Webs realized that Kestrel was still talking. "We'll be long gone before the Talons of Peace return for the dragonets."

"No!" Webs hissed, angry for the first time in a while. It occurred to him that, in her anger, Kestrel had expressed a desire to kill all the dragonets and flee. But they couldn't do that! They couldn't disappoint the Talons of Peace! "Keeping the dragonets alive for the next eight year is more important than anything. If you don't want to be part of that - "

"All right, enough," Kestrel snapped, and Webs snapped his mouth shut, satisfied with her reaction. "I'm the strongest dragon in the Talons of Peace. You need me. It doesn't matter how I feel about the last little dragonets." She shot a look at the fragment of egg on the ground, rubbing her oddly scarred palms together as if she were angry at the dead SkyWing dragonet. "Although I thought at least one of them would be a SkyWing."

 _Does it have to be a SkyWing?_ Webs wondered. _It says five dragonets of destiny. Maybe, maybe, it doesn't have to be a SkyWing. I mean, the prophecy has to give leeway for an accident, right? Maybe it foresaw the death of the SkyWing dragonet, and it's testing us? Five dragonets. We need five._

"I'll find us a fifth dragonet," Webs said, filled with determination as he pushed past his SkyWing companion, his wings scraping against the wall of the cave. The rustling of leaves grew louder as he approached the entrance.

"There's no way back into the Sky Kingdom, brainless," Kestrel said from behind him. "They'll be guarding the hatchery closely now."

 _It doesn't have to be a SkyWing,_ Webs assured himself before replying. If the prophecy failed, then it might be his fault, like it seemed everything always was. "Then I'll get an egg somewhere else." It was a grim thought to have, and even grimmer to actually execute. He would separate a family today, and drag an innocent dragonet into a destiny that wasn't meant for them. The RainWings would likely be the easiest tribe to steal from. "The RainWings don't even count their eggs - I could take one from the rain forest without anyone noticing."

He knew the SkyWing wouldn't be thrilled with that plan. "Of all the horrible ideas," Kestrel shuddered. "RainWings are wretched creatures. Nothing like SkyWings."

 _Perhaps that's for the better, then,_ Webs thought. _We don't really need another Kestrel, do we? And this dragonet is going to still save us._

"We have to do something," he replied, sweeping his tail on the ground. He hit something and sent it skittering across the floor, and with a shudder realized that it was the fragment of eggshell. He tried not to think of the dead dragonet it had once held. "In eight years, the Talons of Peace will come looking for five dragonets. The prophecy says five, and we're going to make it come true ... whatever it takes."

And leaving Kestrel looking after him dubiously, Webs climbed out of the entrance tunnel, and after making sure there were no dragons in sight, took off, beating his wings frantically in the direction of the rain forest and the Rain Kingdom.

This was the night when the future looked the brightest, and tomorrow, the three moons, full, blossomed brightly.

But things had never looked darker.

* * *

Some distance away, a dragoness the color of the blood that was being spilled emerged from the shadows. With light footsteps she came to stand by the body of a fallen IceWing, a broken beauty who'd met his death, flung from the tops of a very high cliff, killed in mercilessly by the very queen the SkyWings supported.

With emotionless eyes, she gazed down at the corpse, when a flicker of red caught her eyes. She put her talons on the ice-cold scales, and shifted the body aside, careful not to further splinter the fragments of egg underneath.

A smile stretched across her snout as she pushed the dead IceWing away and took in the sight below her; hundreds of splintered pieces of SkyWing egg, and the twisted body of a tiny dragonet, eyes squeezed tight and snout full of fright, covered in a thin line of liquid. If not for the surroundings, she could've been sleeping, but the SkyWing knew that this one was definitely dead.

And that was magnificent, and totally okay.

Gathering the splintered fragments in her hand, she gently stroked one of the dragonet's twisted wing. "Perfect," the dragoness purred. "You are exactly what I was looking for."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Dramatic music! Most of the dialogue in the first section of the prologue is not my own, all those words belong to Tui T. Sutherland, who also happens to own this book series.

To everyone who read the first two chapters before I posted this: I know this may seem totally unrelated to everything happening in the other chapters, but I promise it's not! It's actually quite a big part of the story, and kind of a foreshadowing of what is to come...BUT I CAN'T SAY ANYTHING ELSE.

Anyway, I updated all errors in the first chapter! Thanks for reading! Hopefully you can expect a chapter three soon!


	2. Chapter 1

I do not own Wings of Fire.

* * *

 **Part One: Wings of Sea**

 **Chapter One**

Stretching her long and elegant neck, Cerulean lit up her glow-in-the-dark scales, her eyes unused to the sudden brightness in the dark space that was her room. Her throat was raw and ached with the need for water, and lapping at the nasty green droplets of moisture that congregated on the wall of the cell did not satisfy her thirst. Scraping her claws against the stone floor, Cerulean got to her feet, eyes straining in the penetrating darkness, desperate to see some form of light that did not come from her scales. Light would mean a door.

She could see nothing.

At age four, Cerulean was the only royal princess, the only heir to the SeaWing throne. All her other potential sisters had been killed mysteriously before their hatching; only the male dragonets survived.

No one knew why the female eggs never hatched. But the queen killed all the guards who failed to protect the SeaWing princesses, angry and scared for her eggs, worried about the future of the SeaWing throne.

"If I die, and no heirs remain," said the queen in worry, "what becomes of the kingdom?"

So though Cerulean wasn't the queen's daughter, she'd been chosen to be the next SeaWing heir in case none of the female eggs hatched before the queen's death.

The prospect of being queen of the SeaWings excited most female dragonets her age, but Cerulean felt nothing but dread when she thought about ruling an entire tribe. In the four months she'd been at the palace, she'd learned next to nothing about being a queen, spending most of her time locked up in the "guest room" in the Summer Palace, where she was supposed to be "recovering from the grief of being separated from her family, although really she should be totally honored that she'd been the lucky dragonet selected to take the queen's place if all else fails."

Cerulean did have royal blood in her. She was the daughter of Delta, the queen's cousin, and Fen, the queen's other cousin. Delta and Fen had not lived in the palace. They'd been assigned to govern a fairly remote village of the Sea Kingdom, and had not seen their cousin since the old queen had died, six years ago. Delta and Fen, though they loved Cerulean, had not been particularly attached to their youngest female dragonet. They had twenty-seven dragonets to take care of, and Cerulean had been the defective one of the family; pale purple instead of blue or green like all the other dragons in the village.

In fact, Delta and Fen had been kind of relieved when the royal procession had showed up at their humble abode with orders directly from the queen, demanding politely asking them to send their youngest daughter to the castle immediately. Cerulean could remember climbing onto the royal carriage and being whisked off, away from her home and her family and wondering why she'd been chosen to be the next queen.

"It's because you've been chosen," was all the queen would say whenever Cerulean asked her question." This answer left her feeling both special and confused. But mostly confused. Why had she, of all dragons, been chosen as the next queen? Why not her sisters, Bayou, Brook, Harbor…really, any of them? They were all better suited for the role of royalty. They were all ideal SeaWings, perfect in every way.

In the dark, Cerulean flashed her scales before letting the cell descend into darkness. The black, while daunting and filled with unknown, was soothing to her eyes. She closed them, wondering when the guards would come find her and take her to see the queen again. They might come now, or not for another few hours. She never knew. All she could do was sit there in the dark with her scattered and confused thoughts, wondering how her family was doing, wondering if they missed her, wondering if her old friends were jealous, wondering if they remembered her, wondering if they'd all moved on.

There was a clang of metal against metal. Cerulean jerked awake from her brief reverie, her translucent violet eyes flying open and widening. She desperately longed to see anything other than the pitch black in front of her, but knew better than to light up her scales. At last, a glowing rectangle appeared, defining the opening of the cell door. Four heavily armed guards entered, all pointing wickedly sharp spears at her chest intimidatingly, wearing wary and frightened expressions on their snouts. She didn't know why they bothered with so much security. She was utterly harmless. And if she was going to someday be queen, what was the point of being so afraid of her?

"The queen will see you now," said one of the guards, voice trembling slightly as they spoke in an authorative tone.

Cerulean wanted to run away and hide deep in an ocean trench where no one would ever find her. There was just one problem. If she did that, she'd likely drown at some point. Because unlike other SeaWings, Cerulean had been born without gills on her neck. Like a MudWing, she could hold her breath for an extended amount of time, but eventually, she'd have to come up for air.

This "deformity," as her parents had called it, was the reason for her miserable existence back in her old SeaWing village. She'd never been able to play the traditional sea games the other dragonets played, and her siblings looked down on her as if gills made them more superior. Everyone treated her as if she were some poor accident that had hatched by mistake. Even her twin brother, Moor, while trying to be understanding and inclusive, sometimes condescended towards her, referring to her as "a dragon just one step down on the SeaWing evolutionary ladder."

 _(Side note: Moor was a huge brainiac who was constantly reading scrolls to gain as much information as possible. And while Cerulean loved him very much, he had a habit of sounding like an epic scroll most of the time while speaking.)_

"Let's get going," the same shaky authorative voice commanded. "The queen said you two have urgent business together."

Cerulean allowed the guards to lead her from her cell, trying to seem as small as possible, which wasn't too difficult. Even for a four year old, she was tiny, barely half the size of the almost full-grown guards escorting her.

"We won't be in the Deep Palace, will we?" Cerulean found the courage to ask.

The guard directly to her right shot her a sideways glance, gills rippling irritably. "No, Your Majesty. The queen understands your…unique physiology. You'll be in the Summer Palace, as usual." This all was said in a clipped and curt manner, any emotion carefully covered under cold ambivalence.

Eddy was the name of this guard. He was the only dragon who'd been even remotely nice to Cerulean since her arrival four months ago. ( _Side Note: Excluding Reef, but that will be explained later)._ Like Cerulean, Eddy had also been taken from his family for royal purposes, but he'd never told her why. She didn't know much about him, and he not much about her, but they'd become friends anyway. He was two years older than she was, but due to the special circumstances that had separated him from his family, he'd become a full guard already, and was one of the queen's most trusted advisors.

Additionally, after the guard Reef had been fired from her guard for befriending Cerulean, she and Eddy could not talk to each other as friends in public situations. The queen seemed intent on isolating her from the rest of the tribe; first with Reef, then with having Cerulean sleep in a prison cell and not one of the rooms in the Summer Palace reserved for royalty. Cerulean was also not allowed to attend any of the council meetings held daily, or go on the monthly trips the queen made to several of the nearest SeaWing villages.

"You'll get to go with me when you're older," the queen always said calmly when Cerulean asked to go on the monthly trips. "But for now, I'd like you stay here, safe and protected, in the palace. We've had several investigative teams down in the hatchery after the last egg broke, and reports are saying that the reason for my heirs' deaths is actually murder. Despite the fifteen guards I've posted there…" she would shake her head in exasperations, as if none of the fifteen guards were capable enough of guarding the hatchery. "Well, I wouldn't like whatever's killing my daughters to get to you." Then she'd climb into the carriage, and the dolphins would ride off and she'd disappear under the waves.

Cerulean had never been to the Deep Palace either, due to her lack of gills. She highly suspected this would present a major problem later on, when she was actually queen, but no one had bothered to bring up this issue, at least that she knew about.

The three guards in front of her and Eddy had already ducked under the surface of the ocean. Cerulean braced herself for the swim to the Summer Palace.

"Take a deep breath," Eddy reminded her gently as he too waded under the surface. Though they'd been tense and wary in the cell, the guards seemed to have relaxed now that they were out in the ocean. Perhaps they were confident that they had the upper talon here by the sea. Perhaps they thought that, if need be, they could simply grab Cerulean and drown her in the ocean, no matter how long that would take. If she were to take to the sky, they could easily catch up with her.

Besides, she needed them. If she got separated from them, she'd be lost, and probably never would find her way back to them. Then who'd be queen of the SeaWings? Then who'd be the chosen one?

Steeling herself, Cerulean set her first talon into the ocean. The chill of the water sent unpleasant chills up her scales, unsettling her. After a moment's pause, she set the next talon in, and then the next, and then next, and then with a huge breath she prepared herself for the worst part. Eddy and the other three guards were waiting for her as Cerulean finally plunged her whole body into the sea, body protesting the complete water surroundings.

 _This is unnatural,_ her body seemed to tell her. _You don't belong in the water. You belong in the sky._

The three guards shot forward, but Eddy stuck by her side as she clumsily tried to make her way forward in the water. Watching the way the other guards moved their wings and tails, she tried to mimic their motions. Most of the time, they flew to the Summer Palace. Cerulean didn't mind that at all, but she figured the guards had started to get annoyed at her because she flew too fast for them to keep up. Here, they swam with the quick ease and efficiency she flew with, while Cerulean wriggled around in a valiant hope to attempt to catch up.

Eddy waited patiently by her side as her body finally found a rhythm, moving forward slightly with each beat of her wings, each swish of her tail, each scooping motion she made with her talons. Still, the guards were getting farther and farther ahead, and even Eddy was having difficulty going as slow as she was.

 _I'm so sorry,_ she flashed in Aquatic. At least she could speak and understand that. It was one thing she could do that other SeaWings did.

 _You're fine. You're doing excellent,_ Eddy replied encouragingly, after making sure the guards were not looking back at them. They could not risk their friendship being discovered. _This is only your fourth time in the water._

It was Cerulean's fourth time in the water. And every time had been awful. She hated everything about the sea; the cold water that seemed to press down against her from every side, the way the saltiness bit at her scales, the way random fish swam way too close to her snout, the way the other SeaWings swam so gracefully while she floundered around like a fish out of water—or perhaps more like a non-fish in water—everything about the ocean was just terrible.

By the time they reached the Summer Palace, Cerulean was running out of breath. She'd become dizzy and lightheaded, but determined not to slow down the voyage from the prison cell to the palace any more than she already had, she determinedly refused to surface for air. She was sure the guards would be even more annoyed, and she didn't need another reason to remind her tribe mates that she wasn't like them.

Eddy and the other guards gracefully exited from the water, climbing onto a sandy bank in one of the underground entrance caves. Cerulean stumbled onto the ground, her limbs, aching from the strenuous amounts of swimming she'd just done, giving out. She tumbled onto the sand, and winced as she felt it cake onto her purple scales. If there was one thing she hated more than water, it was the feeling of wet sand stuck onto her. The only way to get it off was to go back into the water, or wait for the sand to dry and flake off.

She opted to let it fall off on its own, primarily due to the fact that the other guards were glaring daggers at her.

"That journey should've only taken from midsun to highsun," said the bluest dragon, the one who had the authorative voice. The tremor that had been present in her voice earlier had vanished. Now, she was cold, commanding, and utterly in control. "The queen's council will likely be in session now. Whatever urgent business Her Majesty had to discuss with you had better not be too much of an emergency."

Cerulean ducked her head in shame, feeling terrible.

"Come on, then," the blue dragon hissed, beckoning with her tail. "The rest of you, I can take care of this one on my own. Back to your other duties."

Shooting her a sympathetic look, Eddy followed his companions up one of the tunnel passageways that led up from the entrance cave into various different areas of the palace.

The blue dragon was already heading for another one of the tunnels. Cerulean knew from previous experience that the blue dragon was named Lake, extremely grouchy, and also terrified of Cerulean but refused to acknowledge her fear. Although why Lake was so terrified of a four-year-old dragonet with no gills, Cerulean had no idea.

"The queen is at the daily council meeting," Lake said curtly once they'd reached the throne room of the palace. "If you need anything, there are guards posted outside the throne room. Expect the queen back shortly." She left briskly, and Cerulean was glad to be relieved of the grumpy guard's presence. The whole walk had been one awkward moment after another. Neither of them had said anything, nor attempted to initiate a conversation.

Cerulean set about waiting for the queen. Every learning session she'd had with the queen had taken place in the throne room, with occasional visits to the library, so she'd become accustom with the space. In the center of the room was an ornate throne made of polished mahogany, with plush blue velvet lining and gold sculptures of leaping dolphins on the armrest. The queen's throne was on a platform, three steps above the rest of the room, so that it was clear to all who had the authority. Behind the throne, on the back wall, was a beautiful mosaic of a stormy sea, inlaid with some of the royal treasury; glinting sapphires, beautiful emerald, glittering diamond, shimmering topaz, with amethyst, aquamarine, and hints of ruby.

On either side of the throne lay the queen's two gifts to the SeaWing tribe; a staff enchanted with the power to defend the kingdom when great danger was approaching, and a beautifully polished sword, perhaps once belonging to a scavenger, that was infused with the power of foresight; the queen and her advisories could gaze into the smooth reflection of the weapon and see what the future had in store for them, and therefore be better prepared for whatever was coming.

Since the queen had taken the throne six years ago, the staff had only been used once. Nobody had told Cerulean why, or what had happened. She just knew that, approximately four years ago, something or someone had successfully killed Princess Anemone and her younger sister, Princess Auklet. Nothing could be found of their killer, but it became clear that whoever had performed the deed was an animus dragon. A search, issued by the queen, had immediately gone out in an attempt to find the animus, but nobody was ever found. At least, that's what any dragon Cerulean asked would always say. But she already knew that part! And besides, she always thought, the murderer _must_ have been found, or the staff wouldn't have been used.

As for the sword that foretold the future, the queen had never allowed Cerulean to gaze upon it, saying that she was not ready for the young dragonet to be exposed to the cruel and violent ways of the world.

Cerulean had never been allowed alone in the throne room before. Usually, there were several guards waiting inside with her, their hostile gazes trained on her, ensuring that she did not do anything she wasn't supposed to. But now she was completely alone. She could look into the sword if she wanted to…

Before she could make up her mind, the doors of the throne room were thrown open. In strode a beautiful SeaWing dragoness of about twenty-six years of age. She had dark green, emerald scales that shone under the light of glowing silver orbs that were used to light the Summer Palace. Her sapphire eyes were sharp and calculating, and filled with a bright gleam that could be mistaken for madness. The queen grinned down at her small heir in what seemed a friendly way, and she spread her wings welcomingly.

"Your Highness." Cerulean lowered her body into an awkward bow, tilting her wings downwards along with her head.

"Don't bow, Cerulean," the queen commanded, but her tone was light and joking. "You'll be queen someday. You, too, are royalty."

"I know, it's just—" Cerulean tripped over her words, nervous as she always was when speaking to the intimidating queen.

"I understand," the queen cut across her stutters. "But I have great news for you, Cerulean! I figured out a solution to your little water problem."

The queen referred to Cerulean's lack of gills by using the phrase "little water problem. Cerulean didn't know what to feel about that term.

"The answer is so simple, I can't believe I haven't thought of it before," continued the queen, walking past Cerulean and seating herself on her throne. She beckoned for her heir to come stand by her side. "You'll be touring the Deep Palace in no time, and everyone will forget about your little water problem."

Cerulean felt hope bubble up inside her. "Really?"

"Really," the queen promised.

"How will you do it?"

Grinning once more, the queen leaned forward as if she were about to tell Cerulean a very big secret.

"Easy," she said. "I'll use my animus powers."

"I can't ask you to do that!" Cerulean protested. "You're soul…"

"My soul is fine," the queen promised. She glanced at her talons, inspecting them carefully, and looked back up at her heir. "I promise."

Six years ago, Queen Coral had been killed in a challenge by her daughter. Six years ago, Orca had risen to the throne as queen. Six years ago, everything had changed for the Kingdom of the Sea.

Queen Orca smiled up at Cerulean, clearly satisfied with her talons. "I promise you I'm fine."


	3. Chapter 2

I do not own Wings of Fire.

* * *

Chapter 2

Cerulean stood on the shore and braced herself for what she knew was about to come. She wrapped her talons tightly around the new pendant that swung from her neck; a beautiful onyx carving of an orca, leaping up out of the water. Precious stones glittered on the creature's back, and the necklace chain was of purest silver, treated with a special SeaWing solution to keep it from rusting.

This would be the first test of the necklace's powers since its creation only a few hours ago. After learning more about royal history - in which the queen had conveniently skipped over the details of her own coming to throne, saying that it was for another day - it was finally time to visit the Deep Palace. For the first time ever, Cerulean would get to see it.

"Are you excited?" Orca asked. She adjusted a string of pearls on her body, arranging them just so, and then with a flick of her tail, summoned the royal carriage. Within seconds, it had arrived.

Cerulean couldn't speak, so she just nodded, still clutching at the necklace. The jewelry seemed to hum with the animus magic it had been enchanted with, and it set a shivery feeling down Cerulean's body. It wasn't a bad feeling. It was the feeling of power, and the humming sound it seemed to emit harmonized with a sound that seemed to always fill Cerulean, a sound she'd never noticed before.

"It'll work," Orca promised as she entered the chariot. Two royal guards held open the doors for her. A bit relieved, Cerulean saw Eddy was one of them. He sent her a wink as she followed the queen aboard. "If not, I can enchant something else."

 _But won't I have drowned by then?_ Cerulean wondered to herself, but didn't voice the worry aloud. She was nervous and excited. But mostly nervous.

Orca smiled at her heir. "I remember the first time I saw the Deep Palace," she said fondly. "My mother wouldn't allow me down there until I was two, so it was quite an honor the first time I went."

"Queen Coral?" squeaked Cerulean, her voice cracking as she finally spoke. She hoped she didn't sound as terrified as she felt.

Orca's eyes darkened suddenly. "Yes, Coral," she said, and her voice seemed to have a layer of ice over it. "Although she wasn't really queen of anything."

"Did you love her?" Cerulean asked, still clutching the orca pendant.

The queen shrugged. "I knew I would have to kill her some day," she said.

Cerulean cocked her head, feeling jittery and nervous. "But won't I have to kill you some day?"

Something glinted in the older SeaWing's eyes. "Maybe someday. Or maybe not. Maybe I'll die on my own. We'll see, Cerulean. Let's get going!" she called out the window of the carriage, to the two dragons steering the dolphins. With a slight jolt, the carriage came to life, and Cerulean could feel it slowly sinking into the sea. Feeling even more terrified, Cerulean stuck her head out of the window, desperate to catch the last glimpses of sunlight and sky. As unlikely as it probably was, she feared that it might be the last time she saw them.

"Let's hope this work," she muttered.

"Oh, I'm sure it will," Orca assured her. "My animus magic is strong."

"And you feel okay, right?" Cerulean asked. "Soul still intact?" She worried away at the necklace.

"Stop playing with that," the Queen commanded, batting Cerulean's talons away from the jewelry. "You'll break it, and then I'll have to make another one. And no, Cerulean, I feel absolutely fine. I would've told you otherwise, wouldn't I?"

Cerulean looked down. "Yes."

With one smooth motion, the carriage glided into the waves and under the water. Unconsciously, Cerulean took a huge breath, fearing she'd drown if she didn't. Gently, Orca took her talons in hers and held them, squeezing them tightly to reassure her heir that everything was okay.

It happened quickly. One moment Cerulean's scales were dry, and the next, the salty water was eating at her scales, her eyes burning as they got used to the water. Then she was in pain beyond anything she'd ever experienced before. The sides of her neck burned, and she inhaled a sharp gasp of pain. However, instead of feeling like she'd just taken a deep breath of air, she felt like she'd taken a deep breath of - well, water, but she still couldn't breathe. Her body attempted to cough up the water it had just inhaled but instead she swallowed even more. She was drowning! And her neck hurt so much!

And then the pain went away, and her coughing eased off, and she realized that she was breathing - actually breathing underwater.

Queen Orca gently brushed her talons over Cerulean's neck, and Cerulean felt something there that hadn't been there before.

 _Gills,_ Orca flashed. _You've got gills now._

 _Oh,_ thought Cerulean, feeling along her neck, feeling the new openings there. She flashed, _Why did it hurt so much?_

Looking sheepish, Orca replied. _I enchanted that necklace to give the wearer gills. But I guess I didn't think about how painful the transformation might be. But hey, it worked, didn't it?_

 _Yes,_ Cerulean agreed, and then she inhaled deeply. While breathing underwater was definitely better than drowning, it still didn't feel right. Dragons weren't supposed to breathe underwater. They were supposed to breathe the air - or at least she was. The feeling of the cool water rushing into her gills and then rushing back out felt strange and unnatural, just like the water pressing down on her and stinging her scales. Being in the water was unnatural.

Fish flashed by in schools, scales glittering in the sunlight that reached through the water like desperate fingers. Bits of seaweed whirled past like tumbleweeds, and every now and then a magnificent coral reef seemed to spring up from the ground, a rainbow world teaming with life. On the ocean floor were mountains of sand, swept into odd shapes and formations by the current, as if blown by wind.

 _It's beautiful, isn't it?_ asked Orca, capturing Cerulean's attention again. _We live in the best place. We are a blend of water, land, and air._

 _I wish it was just land and air,_ thought Cerulean. She wished the cool liquid running over her scales was the wind whipping through her as she flew quickly among the skies. She wished the fish were birds, soaring high with their wings spread wide. She wished she were anywhere but where she actually was.

 _Beautiful,_ Cerulean agreed when she realized the queen was waiting for her answer. She decided that maybe the coral reefs were kind of pretty, after all.

 _We'll be here shortly,_ Orca promised. _Look ahead, and you'll see the Deep Palace emerging._

Cerulean looked out the window.

There was another thing about the ocean that she didn't like, she realized as she squinted into the waters ahead. In the sky, you could, for the most part, see for miles around you. In the ocean, you could only see a little in front of you, before a blue wall of water seemed to descend like a mist and obscure vision. It was also very difficult to distinguish things from a distance, because they just looked like dark hulking shapes.

And that was exactly what the Deep Palace looked like when Cerulean first saw it; a large, terrifying black object looming out of the darkness, nearly scaring Cerulean out of the carraige.

Orca flashed her lights, the Aquatic equivalent of laughter. _It's not that bad,_ she teased. _It's quite beautiful. You'll see._

In a short moment the carriage had pulled up to an underwater docking bay, and Eddy was helping Cerulean out. He smiled discreetly at her as she floundered onto the sand, which slid around her talons wetly. The water weighed down on her, and she decided that, even without having seen it, she hated the Deep Palace. She wanted air, she wanted natural light, she wanted the sky.

The queen was grinning widely, though. _Come on,_ she flashed, and then she was swimming gracefully away. Struggling greatly, Cerulean set off after her, feeling extremely embarrassed as she saw guards and other dragons looking at her critically. A difficult swimming journey later, they stood in the throne room of the palace. Much more elaborate then the one in the Summer Palace, it was filled with many animus-touched items, both from Queen Orca, but also Princess Anemone, who, at the queen's urging, had made many animus-touched items for the Kingdom's safety.

 _Don't touch anything,_ Orca warned, shooting a look around at all of the powerful objects. _You don't know what they do yet, and I don't want you messing with them._

 _Okay,_ Cerulean agreed. She determinedly looked ahead of her to the throne, where the queen had gracefully seated herself. She focused on getting there; she was quite some distance behind.

 _Hmm,_ the queen said thoughtfully. _I have a meeting in the council chamber in a few minutes, so I'll get someone to give you a tour of the Deep Palace. How does that sound?_

 _Fine,_ Cerulean consented. She didn't see much of a choice.

The queen flicked her tail, and immediately a stately looking dragon appeared.

 _Yes, Your Majesty?_ he flashed.

 _Hello, Octopus,_ Orca greeted, flashing him a toothy grin. _This is Cerulean. My heir. This is her first time in the Deep Palace. Would you mind giving her a tour?_

Octopus looked Cerulean up and down, a less-than-satisfied expression twisting his snout. _Very well. I'd be honored._

 _Excellent,_ the queen beamed. _I'll be back very shortly. Have fun, Cerulean!_

In a cloud of bubbles, she was gone, and Cerulean was left with Octopus. The latter SeaWing was looking extremely skeptical as he paddled in a circle around her, as if examining something he was thinking of buying. His eyes were blue, and Cerulean realized with some alarm that he was missing most of his teeth.

 _H-hi,_ she tried, endeavoring to banish her unease and fright. _I'm Cerulean._

She mentally kicked herself. _He already knows you're Cerulean, stupid!_

 _I know,_ replied Octopus, his scales flashing in a short and clipped manner. _Let's go._

The next hour or so proceeded in a very awkward manner. Octopus swam several tail lengths ahead of her, kept forgetting she was there, and got annoyed when he had to wait for her to stop. He didn't explain much; just waved his talons in a general direction and said _that's the kitchens_ or _that's Seal, a maid_ or _those are the stair leading to the next level._

Cerulean didn't pay much attention, focusing her attention instead on swimming. It helped alleviate some of the awkwardness, and she also found that she was able to swim a little faster if she thought about it.

 _This is the nursery,_ flashed Octopus in a bored manner. _The queen has ordered guards to watch it continuously, as - well, you probably already know._

Cerulean was suddenly very interested. This was the place where countless SeaWing princesses had been murdered in their eggs. This was the reason she, Cerulean, was here in the castle.

She darted inside, her curious out causing her to swim faster than before. Upon entering, a sense of foreboding settled on her, but there was nothing in the nursery to cause terror. Eggs nestled in warmth, six in total, four female and two male, with soft glowing lights lighting up the place. The statue of the queen had been removed seven years ago, when Princess Tsunami and her friends had visited and discovered the statue'a murderous powers. But it seemed that there was something off killing off the eggs, and nobody could find what it was.

 _Perhaps I could_! Cerulean thought. _Maybe that will earn the trust of my tribe, and prove that I can and will be a good queen._

Two very sleepy looking guards stood watch, weary. They sat up straighter when they saw her, and narrowed their eyes.

 _Who are you?_ flashed one. _How'd you get in here?_

 _Or maybe not,_ Cerulean thought sadly. _I guess I'll never get my tribe to believe in me._

Which once again brought up the question; why was she the one chosen to be the next queen?

Octopus was telling the guards a detailed story about who she was. He appeared distracted, and so did both guards. No one would notice if she just left...

 _I could find the queen I could swim back to the surface._

 _Let's go._ Octopus had returned. _The queen should be back by now._

* * *

 _What do you know about SkyWings?_ Orca asked once they were alone together in the throne room.

 _Well, the last time we fought them was seven years ago, when they attacked us by air,_ Cerulean replied knowledgeably. In the village she'd grown up in, every dragonet knew and learned about the War of SandWing Succession that had happened seven years ago. They were repeatedly told how lucky they were they weren't alive during that period of time, but Cerulean kind of wish she had been. She especially wish she'd been born on the brightest night thirteen years ago. With all her heart, she wanted to be a dragonet of destiny so that she'd actually have a purpose, particularly the SkyWing one who'd died. When she was younger and the other dragonet were playing games she couldn't participate in, she liked to pretend that somehow, she was the missing SkyWing in disguise, miraculously having survived.

There were obviously many flaws with this fantasy; she was nine years younger than the dragonets of destiny, for one, and she was also a SeaWing.

 _That's correct,_ Orca flashed with a grimace. _I tried to stop it, you know._

 _With your animus powers?_ Cerulean asked, awed.

 _No,_ Orca contradicted, but didn't elaborate.

 _How, then?_ Cerulean pressed.

 _I'll tell you later._

 _How?_

 _I said, I'll tell you later,_ Orca repeated, looking annoyed.

 _But -_ began Cerulean, but suddenly she felt pain in her neck. For a moment she panicked, thinking her gills were disappearing, but then realized she could still breathe and that the pain was only brief.

Startled, she examined the necklace, wondering if it had done something. But what? It was only enchanted to give its wearer gills...she'd heard Orca say the incantation herself. _Enchant this necklace to give the wearer gills the moment he or she enters the water so that he or she may breathe freely, and upon exiting the water, allow the wearer to return to normal._

So why was she so certain that the necklace had punished her insistence? Was it possible for an animus to add on spells to an object without speaking them aloud?

Afraid that she'd experience a similar feeling of pain if she dared to ask, Cerulean dropped the necklace and looked up at her queen, alarmed to see Orca studying her as intently as she'd just examined her necklace.

 _Good,_ Orca flashed. _Come along now. We've got more important things to do._

The queen swam to the doors of the throne room, preparing to open them so that she and Cerulean could step through and go attend to the more important things that needed doing. Before she could even touch the white surface of the narwhal horn handles, the doors were thrown open. Orca quickly jumped back to avoid being squashed, her tail propelling her way backward. Her scales flashed in blinding outrage at the two dragons, who Cerulean recognized as the nursery guards, came swimming frantically into the throne room, looking terrified.

 _Your Majesty,_ one began. He looked absolutely dismal, as if the news he bore would cost him his life.

 _Yes?_ asked Orca. If she were speaking, her voice would've sounded sharp like the tips of the narwhal horn door handles, and as hard as her eyes were as she gazed unforgivingly at the two petrified guards. _What is it?_

The first guard shook his head, eyes wide and pleading. _The nursery,_ the second guard began when she realized her partner wouldn't say a thing. _We turned our backs for only a moment when Octopus stopped in for a chat...and in that moment, the assassin struck! The eggs...we're so sorry._

Orca looked absolutely livid. _How dare you,_ she flashed. _You had only one job. You only needed to watch those eggs, and you failed._

 _We're sorry!_ the first guard flashed despairingly.

 _Sorry won't bring those eggs back,_ the queen flashed severely. _You know what happens to the guards who fail me._

The two guards exchanged terrified looks. _Please, Your Highness, please give us a second chance._

 _Run away,_ Orca warned. _Run away now, and your lives will be longer._

Once again exchanging terrified looks, the guards turned around and began to paddle frantically in the opposite direction, their tails swishing and their wings beating as they swam away in powerful strokes, exiting the throne room and disappearing down the corridor. Their glowing underscales flashed, letting all know how truly terrified they were.

 _How sad,_ Orca flashed to Cerulean, looking like she could care less. _Another hatching, gone. Looks like you'll be queen after all, Cerulean._

A crushing feeling overtook the little purple dragonet. She knew she was to be queen, but how could Orca care so little about her unhatched dragonets? And what about the guards.

The second question was answered. With a lazy flick of her magnificent and powerful tail, the narwhal door handles detached themselves from the doorway, and shot out of the throne room and away from the queen and Cerulean like disembodied swords, fifteen feet of solid bone ready to impale anyone in the way, and designed to kill the guards who'd failed to protect the eggs.

 _Come on,_ _Cerulean,_ Orca flashed. _Now that that little issue is out of the way, it's time to deal with more pressing matters._

The queen swam from the throne room, and after a moment of shocked stillness, Cerulean hastened to follow. Somewhere in the palace, she knew two dragons had met their death.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Sorry it took me awhile to update this story! Chapters are much longer than my usual fan fictions are, so they take a lot of time to write. Additionally, I have several other fan fictions that I update regularly, and until I finish those, I can't promise a regular updating schedule for this story. Luckily, one of my fan fictions will be finished up very soon, for a brief while, so that should mean I can update more frequently. I hope this chapter was worth the wait. :) I do know where I'm going with this story, which is pretty amazing for me, because normally I kind of improvise until a plot comes to mind. But I was writing this chapter and then, like Athena from Zeus's brain, a fully fledged plot sprung from my mind and I think it's really good and it explains a lot of things. I also did some math and realized that if I want this plot to work, I have to make Orca twenty-six years old and not twenty-one, so I will change that as soon as possible in the first chapter. Also, just so you know, this story takes place seven years after the war, so Tsunami and the other dragonets of destiny are thirteen years old. Some things in this story may not line up with the plot line of the actual series, so apologies in advance!

Also, I will accept OC's for dragons working/living in the SeaWing Kingdom. I would actually really appreciate OC's, as I am absolutely terrible at coming up with dragon names and have only four characters of my own: Cerulean, Octopus, Eddy, and another dragon I have yet to introduce, Archipelago. So yes, I would like some OC's, please and thank you!

 **Sofie-Sandwich:** Thank you so much! It makes me so happy to know people like my writing, and I appreciate you taking time to read it! I will definitely keep writing. Thanks for reading!

 **jadewolf334:** You are AWESOME! And thank you for pointing out the error with the sword/shield...I feel so stupid...but in my defense, both words begin with the letter s and they look and sound similar. Maybe it's just me. But I will definitely fix that error as soon as I can, probably when I also fix Orca's age. And don't worry, I will explain Orca's living existence in future chapters. I have a whole plot planned out...Thanks for reading!

Happy new year by three days...


	4. Chapter 3

I do not own Wings of Fire.

* * *

Chapter 3

After spending a majority of the day swimming sluggishly around the palace after the queen and learning about the seventeen most important duties of being the ruler of the tribe - of which, Cerulean only remembered three duties - she and Orca were once again down in the entrance cave and climbing onto the carriage. It had been a long day, and Cerulean's eyes were growing heavy with the need for sleep. The enchanted necklace rested innocently on her chest, glimmering in the light of scales flashing in Aquatic as Orca told the driver of the carriage to start moving.

The sea was dark, as in the sky above, the sun had set and only the moons lit the night. Every now and then, as Cerulean stared out the large windows of the carriage, a glimmer of silver scales caught her eye, reflected in the few bright rays of moonlight that had penetrated the dark waters.

 _It worked,_ Orca flashed after some amount of time had gone by with no interaction between the two. Cerulean turned to face her queen, who was looking intently at the necklace around her neck.

 _Yes,_ Cerulean replied. _I was fine. And you were fine?_

Like she did every time Cerulean asked about her should after casting animus magic, Orca waved her off. _Of course I'm fine. I'm always fine._ She paused a moment, then added, _I really haven't done that much magic. Not nearly enough to warrant concern about my soul. I'll worry about that. You worry about yourself._

Nothing more was exchanged between the two for the rest of the journey to the Summer Palace. Orca's expression became one of thought, and her eyes seemed to slip away into the realm of her mind. Cerulean returned to gazing out the window into the dark and foreboding sea, trying to make out her first glimpse of the Summer Palace.

She did not see it, but at last the carriage was tilting upwards as they arrived at the castle. Cerulean had never been so relieved to see the sky and the moons and the faint pinpricks of sky, and she welcomed the cool air that hit her wet scales as the carriage broke the surface. It was freezing after being in the water so long, and she couldn't suppress that trembling that wracked her body.

Fire once again stabbed at her neck as the necklace's magic took hold, and the gills she'd been given temporarily melted back into smooth scales on her neck. Orca watched this transition calmly, and then, from her arm, home to an array of bracelets, she removed a delicate silver chain and slipped it onto Cerulean.

"I enchant this necklace to keep it's wearer warm when cold, or cold when warm. I enchant this necklace to keep it's wearer at a comfortable temperature," she said, and Cerulean had only a moment of horrified realization to realize that her queen was casting a new spell before warmth rolled over her scales, lulling her into a sleepy state. Even the spark of power that seemed to light up from deep within her couldn't wake her up enough to protest the magic Orca had just done.

"There," Orca smiled serenely down at her heir. "Better now? Warm?"

Cerulean managed to nod, and yawned. "I still have to swim back to the island," she managed, thinking disappointedly of the long swim back to the land that held the prison cell that she'd stayed while she'd been here.

Orca shook her head gently. "No," she decided. "I don't think you ever have to return there."

The purple dragonet couldn't repress a sigh of relief as she allowed those words to sink in, and realized that she might actually get to stay in the palace now, sleep on a real bed and not on the hard rocky floor and sleep in a real room and not a cell.

The queen spread her wings wide, allowing the faint breeze rustling over the ocean to dry off her wet scales. Cerulean mimicked her, her new bracelet keeping her warm even as the chilly wind blue over her, drying her slowly.

"Two full moons tonight," Orca commented, her blue sapphire eyes fixed on the glowing orbs in the sky.

In her stay, Cerulean hadn't been out late enough to see the moons appear in the night sky, glowing like eyes. The queen had always made sure she was back in her cell - pardon, _guest room_ \- before the night fell, so this was the first time the young dragonet had seen the beauty of these celestial bodies.

They were so far away, and yet they seemed so near. Two were full and round, milky white and glowing like large stars, and the other was about a quarter way full, just a sliver in the night, but still bright enough to be seen clearly. The sea, undisturbed for miles, with only the Summer Palace in the way, shimmered with the silver light of the moons, reflecting off of calm waters. Cerulean could imagine that the silver reflection was a path, and that she could walk on it, and it would take her somewhere new, somewhere where other dragons didn't look at her weirdly, where her parents actually had time for her, and where she knew who she was and what she was doing.

"They're beautiful, aren't they?" Orca asked. "The moons."

 _Beautiful_ didn't cover it. There was no word that could describe how Cerulean felt about those three moons. She felt like she could soar higher than she'd ever gone before, fly for miles until she cleared Pyrrhia and was flapping over the ocean and to a place no dragon had ever heard of or gone to before. She felt like she could do anything. The sleepy feeling was gone under those moons. Power and energy seemed to thrum through her body as she replied, almost breathless, "Beautiful."

Orca flapped her wings, sending the last few droplets of water off of them, and then folded them close around her body. Even though she was still dripping with water, Cerulean copied her movement and turned to face the queen. The moment she stopped looking at the moons, tiredness seemed to wash over her once again.

The queen smiled. "Interesting. Well, before you pop off to bed, why don't we have a quick dinner? How silly of me, I didn't realize you haven't eaten in so long. Perhaps it's better that I don't have any daughters yet, because I wouldn't know how to take care of them. I've got quite a few sons, yes, but they just seem to take care of themselves...I don't have much experience with younger dragonets. Before I really got to know them, Anemone and Auklet - well, they - " She broke off, clearly grief-stricken, not wanting to say the end of the sentence. But Cerulean knew what she meant.

Orca had appeared at the Summer Palace only a few months after the War of SandWing Succession ended, seven years ago. She looked thin and worn, but delighted nonetheless to see her mother and discover she had sisters. But only a year after staying in the palace, the year in which she challenged Queen Coral a second time and won, both Anemone and Auklet were mysteriously murdered. Orca had been a prime suspect; everyone, even dragonets, knew about the statue she had enchanted to kill of SeaWing heirs, and additionally, her being alive made no sense. Nineteen years ago, despite almost winning, Queen Coral had killed her in battle after Orca challenged her mother for the throne the first time, at only age seven. There was no way she could've still been alive; there'd been a funeral for her and everything, in which they placed Orca's body on a boat, wrapped in a royal SeaWing shroud as tradition instructed, and sent her out on the ocean to find her final resting place.

Orca should've been dead, but inexplicably, she was alive. And she was the queen.

* * *

In the banquet hall of the Summer Palace, the two royals were treated to a feast. Endless arrays of colorful fish filled the table, along with squid, octopus, and whale. There were bowls of seaweed salads and shrimp kebabs, and a coconut cake for dessert.

A maid, who's name, Cerulean discovered, was Chrysocolla, attended to the two of them, pouring them drink whenever their cups went empty and responding to their every request. She was a pretty bluish-green color, and rather reserved, speaking only when spoken to, but smiling encouragingly at Cerulean whenever they made eye contact.

This kind of interaction with a SeaWing other than Orca, Eddy, her family, or Reef (who was no longer alive so maybe really didn't count anymore) was rare to Cerulean, and she took an immediate liking to the maid.

 _Maybe I'll have more than one friend here,_ she hardly dared to hope.

A little while into the meal, the banquet hall doors were thrust wide open and a green snout poked it's way in.

"Oh, hello," it said. "Um, I didn't realize you were back already."

Orca looked up from her fish, surprised at the disturbance. She squinted at the snout. "I thought you'd all gone off to bed."

"Er, yes, um, we all did," the snout replied. "But, well, I was hungry, so I thought maybe I could ask Chrysocolla to, you know, get me a quick snack? Sorry to bother you, um, I'll just be going."

The snout disappeared. The maid looked apologetically at the queen, but Orca ignored her. "No, no, come back," the queen called after the snout. "Come, sit with us. Meet Cerulean. Have something to eat."

The snout reappeared. "Really? I mean, of course, I'd love to. Thanks."

The snout entered, and Cerulean realized that it belonged to another SeaWing dragonet with a rather wiry frame. His eyes seemed a bit too large in his thin face, and his scales were a light green, dotted with blue, almost like freckles. He looked a bit terrified, his body hunched in on itself to appear as small as possible, which Cerulean was familiar with. She found herself in the same position most of the time.

"Um, hello," he said once he'd taken a seat, which Orca had indicated for him to sit in, one next to Cerulean. He looked at her curiously, like he'd never seen her before, which he hadn't.

"Hello," she responded. "I'm Cerulean."

"I know," he said. "We've all heard about you."

"'We've?'" echoed Cerulean.

"Um, all of us male dragonets," he clarified. "There's eleven of us, your, um, brothers, I suppose." He shot a glance at his mother, who was looking at him thoughtfully. "I'm one of them. My name's Archipelago."

"Nice to meet you," Cerulean attempted to smile. She held out her talon for him to shake, and then dropped it when he just stared at her like she was crazy.

"Yes," Orca said. "I remember you now, Archipelago. You were the male dragonet from a couple years ago, right? The only one who hatched from that hatching."

The prince attempted a smile. "Yes, that's me."

"Why were you the only one to hatch?" Cerulean asked. Then she backtracked, "Well, I know that your sisters obviously didn't hatch because, well, obviously I wouldn't be here if they had, and just well, it's obvious they didn't. But were there just no other SeaWings in that hatching?"

Archipelago winced. "Actually, there were supposed to be. One other. I was a twin, but, well, I, er, killed my brother before we, uh, hatched," he explained, shooting a terrified glance a the queen.

"Hmm, yes," Orca mused, not looking the slightest bit sad about the loss of her son. "I suppose that was a good thing. Otherwise we'd have another little prince running about the palace."

Cerulean and Archipelago exchanged looks.

Chrysocolla appeared at that moment with a pitcher of water, and she poured a gobletful for Archipelago and refilled Cerulean's as well. "Your Majesties," she said, dipping her head at both dragonets, before retreating.

Archipelago got a strange look on his face. "Whoa. That was weird."

"What was?" asked Cerulean, taking a bite of tuna.

"Well, it's not very often that anyone calls me Your Majesty," he replied. "Because, you know, being a prince means we can't inherit the throne, so it's kind of like, sometimes, even though we're princes, we're not really royalty after all."

"That's too bad," Cerulean said, trying to sympathize, but secretly she wished she was a prince so that she wouldn't ever have to be queen.

There were a few heartbeats of silence as the three royals ate their dinners and Chrysocolla cleared away empty plates and brought back more, refilled cups and cleaned away small messes.

"How old are you?" Archipelago asked, his snout filled with chewed fish. Cerulean didn't mind, though.

"Chew with your mouth closed," Orca barked. "And don't talk with your mouth full."

"I'm four," Cerulean replied with a smile as Archipelago hastily swallowed his mouthful of food. Then the smile disappeared as he began to choke.

"Three moons," Orca said exasperatedly as Chrysocolla patted the prince on the back and retreated once more as he stopped choking. The queen adjusted one of the bracelets on her arm.

Through muted conversation, Cerulean discovered that Archipelago was five and the middle brother; the sixth eldest and the sixth youngest, with five older brothers and five younger ones.

"Time for bed I think," Orca cut across in a clipped voice. She fixed Archipelago with a cold look. "You've stayed up long enough, and I'm sure your brothers must be looking for you. I think it's time you left."

"Okay," he said without protest, getting up from his seat. "Thank you. Er, good night, Mother, Cerulean."

With an awkward little wave to her, Cerulean watched him disappear out the door.

 _Another friend?_ Her heart sang this phrase eagerly. _Maybe I'll have_ three! _That's the most I've ever had!_

"Go with him, maid," Orca said dismissively.

"Yes, Your Highness," Chrysocolla said with a bow. She turned from the queen and gave Cerulean a funny look. Either she was making fun of Cerulean, or she was making fun of the queen. Then the maid had vanished after Archipelago, and Orca and Cerulean were alone.

"Dinner was good?" the queen asked by way of conversation.

"Yes, excellent," Cerulean assured her.

"Good." Orca rose from her seat at the head table, a chair much like her throne in the throne room. "Let's find you a place to stay."

The two exited the banquet hall and began to walk in the direction of the north wing of the Summer Palace, in the direction of the royal bedrooms.

At last, Orca spoke. "Sorry about Archipelago," she said.

"I don't mind him," Cerulean said.

The queen continued as though uninterrupted. "Those princes, my sons, can get rather annoying, I find," she added. "One of the reasons I dislike having eggs in hope of a female egg is because it seems, while the princesses all die, all the males survive, and pretty soon there are millions of princes running around all over the place. My mother would've known what I'm talking about. We're still working on relocating all thirty-two of my brothers."

 _It's too bad that the queen has such little love for her sons,_ Cerulean thought sadly.

"Anyway, I don't think you should hang around your brothers, Archipelago most of all," Orca was saying. "I hate to say it, but he, among all your brothers, is the most...I suppose the word I'm looking for is troublesome, but that doesn't quite sum him up. You see, his twin brother...well, I'm not sure I should tell you this, as it does concern him, and it kind of his secret...but I'll just say this. He did strangle his brother before hatching, but it wasn't an accident. At least, it doesn't seem to be that way."

"What happened?" asked Cerulean, curious. "Why wasn't it an accident?"

Orca looked at her sadly. "It was four years ago," she said as if this explained everything. "But I don't want you around Archipelago ever again. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Cerulean said immediately.

"Good," Orca smiled again, her blue eyes brightening up again and eradicating the sadness they'd held earlier. "Here's your room. Go on and get comfortable. I'll send you a maid tomorrow morning. I'm afraid most of the staff has already gone to bed, and you should follow that example. Goodnight, my dear. I'll see you tomorrow."

With these words, the queen left Cerulean to open up the beautifully polished double doors and enter the vast chamber. It was infinitely better than the prison cell, with a plush bed covered in fine fabrics, a gleaming mahogany desk with a matching chair and a large and ornate quill resting inside of a bottle of ink, a vanity with a large silver mirror filled with assortments of expensive and rare jewelry that reflect the light of lamps, among other things. But even though she was very appreciative of the space, she wished it were smaller. There was something unsettling about the largeness of the space, and being the slightly paranoid dragonet she was, she couldn't help but think of all the places a dragon could hide in. And the sound of her steps as she walked from the door to the inviting bed echoed loudly and ominously in the large stillness, like the knell of a bell or like oncoming thunder.

Leaving the light on, Cerulean climbed onto the bed, which sunk a bit under her weight, soft and yielding. She buried herself among blankets and rested her head on a pillow, fully expecting to be dragged down into sleep immediately and desperately wanting to be curled up with her sisters back at home - her original home, with her family.

But the yawning space and the loud silence seemed to chase away sleep, and she instead stared up at the canopy of the bed she was laying in, her heart beating wildly and jumping at every sound it heard, and she thought she could see movement flickering in the corner of her eyes. There were footsteps echoing somewhere in the distance, in a far off part of the palace, and every now and then she would hear a dragon pass her room, sometimes silently, sometimes muttering bits of gibberish that she couldn't understand. But eeriest of all were the sounds of the castle shifting around, settling on its foundation, because the noises sounded like far off screams and cries or maybe a feral growl from a terrifying beast.

It seemed like only the blink of an eye, but Cerulean bolted upright all of a sudden. She realized that she must've dosed off, and tried to recall what had woken her. The sounds of the Summer Palace had morphed into screams as she dropped off into sleep, and a particularly loud screech had woken her up.

She inhaled deeply. There was nothing to be afraid of. The sounds were only part of her dream.

 _Dolphins. Sea foam. Sun. The sky. Flying. Clouds,_ she thought, using happy things to have away the bad ones.

And then the loudest scream of all echoed in her mind.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Wow, what is this? Did I really post two chapters in two days? YES I DID! I'M SO PROUD OF MYSELF. Well, I guess yesterday's update technically wasn't a chapter, but I will still celebrate this victory. Anyway, this chapter was a bit different from the others! I've finally introduced all _my_ characters, and jadewolf334's character Chrysocolla, who will appear in this story in the future, but I have yet to introduce Pancake Unicorn's character Tetra. But if anyone would like an OC to appear at some point in the story, please let me know, and I will try to include them! No promises on how often they will appear, but I will try to incorporate them at some point in the story. Please tell me their name, age, appearance, personality, and, if you'd like, who they are in terms of position at the palace; are they a guard, or maybe a member of the royal family? I'm looking for names of the ten other brothers, too, so there's that option. And I would really appreciate some OC's for characters because I am TERRIBLE at coming up with names. So please and thank you!

Any guesses to what's up with Archipelago and his dead twin brother? And I can't answer because I obviously know. I know it's a bit early to say this, but depending on where exactly this story ends, I might write sequel, told from either the point of view of Eddy or Archipelago. But I'm only on chapter three of hopefully twenty-three so, you know, kind of hard to tell at this point.

I'm not sure when I'll be able to update next, as I am facing a full five days of school this upcoming week, but hopefully I'll be able to post at least once during the weekdays, and definitely next weekend!

 **Sofie-Sandwich:** THANK YOU! I'm glad you like this story! I hope you also liked reading the chapter. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

 **Pancake Unicorn:** I do indeed have an explanation for Orca's existence. Just a side note that I probably should've mentioned earlier: while I am trying to keep this story as close to the canon books as possible, this is slightly AU and obviously hasn't actually happened in the canon series, so it's only a possible future. I'm glad you think both my stories are good, and it's nice to see someone who's in two of the fandoms I'm a fan of myself!

As for Orca...you'll have to read to find out what's up about her. And yes, those poor guards. I'm glad you're enjoying this story, and I will include Tetra in future chapters! Thank you for reading!

 **jadewolf334:** MWAHAHA! YOU SHALL NEVER FIND OUT WHAT SHE WAS GOING TO DO WITH THAT DRAGONET OR THE EGG OR ANYTHING. Well, that actually might be a lie. But for now, that is for me to know and you to find out. :)

Although I do agree that would be creepy.

I'm glad you enjoyed the prologue! I was aiming for something that stood out from the previous chapters but still had the same tone and quality, if you know what I mean. It's good to know that I managed to achieve that. And it means so much to know that you love this story! Thank you for your continued support!


	5. Chapter 4

I do not own Wings of Fire.

* * *

Chapter 4

 _A long drawn out scream was replaced with a sickening_ thud, _followed by the sound of breaking bones as the dragon fell to the ground. She had only a moment to sympathize with him before she too felt her impact, and the world shattered around her, loud and shrill noises filling her ears._

* * *

Cerulean woke from the dream, jerked awake with a suddenness that had woken her up five times that night. She was relieved to see the golden sun poking its way up from the horizon, painting rays across the purple sky and illuminating the silent sea in shimmering colors. Having been locked away for her whole time by the Summer Palace, she'd never been out early enough to see the radiant dawn of a new morning, and, she thought, though the sunrise was breathtaking, it hardly compared to the beauty of the three moons last night.

Still, she headed over to the window of her room, a grand glass pane that stretched way above Cerulean's head until it joined with the ceiling a good distance above, and pushing past the transparent lace curtains, she watched the sun come up.

Her eyes still felt heavy with sleep; it had been a rough night, and her dreams had spoken of nothing but darkness. Which was very odd, because up until the moment she'd been taken away from her family, nothing of any remote interest had ever happened to her, neither good nor bad. She just wasn't important enough for anything remarkable to ever happen to. She was the dragon who was supposed to just watch things happen to other, more important dragons, like her sisters or her friends (few though they might've been) or her brother. Definitely not her.

When the royal carriage had drawn up to their abode in the SeaWing village, and Orca had announced the need for an heir, her sisters had squabbled over who would get to go with their queen, about who was the best, about who was the most worthy for the crown, blah, blah, blah, PRETENTIOUS SOUNDING ARGUMENTS. Nobody had even looked at Cerulean, sitting quietly in the corner and wishing with all her heart that she could be someone else, somewhere else, someone who could actually be something.

"Your youngest daughter," Orca had cut across the arguing of her other female relatives as she spoke decisively to a starstruck Delta and Fin. The two had exchanged looks, and then Delta had spoken up for the both of them.

"You mean Cerulean?" she'd asked, shooting a glance at the purple dragonet in the corner, quietly humming to herself, desperate to block out the surrounding world.

At these words the sisters had immediately hushed, sending baleful glances at their youngest.

"You can't mean her, surely!" Bayou, the eldest of them all, had exclaimed. "Cerulean's absolutely useless! She can hardly say more than three words without stuttering. She'd be lousy at ruling an entire kingdom. Besides, she can't even go to the Deep Palace! She hasn't got any gills!"

But Orca had been firm, something both Cerulean was grateful and ungrateful for. If Orca had relented, then perhaps it would be Bayou learning all about being queen, and Cerulean would still be in the village, attempting to make friends and fail her way through school, watching from a distance as the other dragonets played games she couldn't. But Orca, obviously, had not given up.

"Your youngest, I said," she'd repeated as if Delta, Fin, and all the others were stupid. "Your youngest will be the next queen, when the time comes."

And no matter how Bayou and the other sisters had protested, no matter how Delta and Fin had tried to convince Cerulean not to go - that she wasn't old enough, she was only four, they'd miss her terribly, what about school? - she'd gone anyway. Because something interesting had finally happened to her, and Cerulean was determined to take that chance, even if she didn't think she could ever be a good queen. Even if the idea of Queen Cerulean was absolutely absurd.

A gentle knock brought Cerulean back from her memories. She turned away from the sunset, where the sun had risen a good bit above the horizon, now sitting like molten lava on the sea. Down on the sandy beach below, where Cerulean could see dragons moving about, fronds swayed in a light sea breeze, and seagulls moved about in flocks, pecking at the ground, occasionally taking flight to the sky and seeming to vanish into the sun.

Chrysocolla entered, her blue-green scales catching the light from the sun rays beaming in through the window. A smile graced her snout as she bustled over to Cerulean's unoccupied bed, quickly and expertly making the bed up in neat movements.

"Good morning, Your Majesty," she said as she did this.

"You can just call me Cerulean, please," the purple dragonet replied. It was still very strange hearing others refer to her as 'Your Majesty' as very few dragons had actually done so in her brief visit.

"I'll call you what they've told me to call you," Chrysocolla answered, and then her smile seemed to morph into a smirk as she added, "Your Majesty."

Cerulean didn't know what to say, so she said nothing.

"I'm sorry," Chrysocolla said after a moment, as she smoothed down the blanket of the bed. "That was rather rude of me, wasn't it? You're the queen's heir, so what you say I must obey. I apologize, again. I have a tendency to be a bit formal around dragons who, well, I either don't know very well, or who rank higher than I do, if you know what I mean. And I also have a wicked sense of humor. At least in my opinion."

"It's okay," Cerulean assured the maid. "Thanks," she added, nodding at the now neatly made-up bed.

"It's my job. You don't have to thank me," the blue-green maid replied, but as she turned away from Cerulean, she had a small smile on her snout. "Ready for breakfast, then?"

"Yes please," Cerulean replied. She blinked the last remnants of sleep from her eyes, and stretched her tail and limbs, flapping her wings once to release some of the tension in them.

"All right, then," Chrysocolla said decidedly. "Let's go." She walked to the doors of the bedroom and threw them open with a dramatic flair. "After you!"

The castle was only just waking up as the pair of them traipsed down the halls to the dining hall.

"You can expect it to be crowded," Chrysocolla warned Cerulean. "All the royals - and nobles - are feasting down there right about now. It'll be your first time with all of them in the same room! But don't worry, I'm sure Her Highness will tell you anything you need to know. Good luck learning the names of all your brothers, though."

"Are you and Archipelago friends?" Cerulean asked.

Chrysocolla laughed. "Three moons, I'm not sure if that's the word that describes us."

"Then what word would?"

The maid looked thoughtful a moment. "More like...acquaintances. Very good acquaintances. I'd say it would be rather difficult to be his friend, given the whole thing back about two years ago, with - oh, although I suppose the queen hasn't told you yet?"

"What thing two years ago?" Cerulean inquired. Her interest peaked. There was much more to Archipelago than what she first thought.

 _The queen wants me to stay away from him,_ she thought. _She claims he's trouble, but the only incident of misbehavior - or, I suppose, the only thing that I know he's done that's terrible - is when he killed his twin in the egg. But surely that's not enough for Queen Orca to forbid me from talking to him? There must be something more to his history - and this must be it._

"Please tell me," Cerulean requested of the maid in what she hoped was an intimidating voice.

Chrysocolla got a suddenly nervous look on her face. "Well, I'm not really the one to be telling you that."

"As the princess, I command - " Cerulean began, her voice wobbling. She wanted to know the truth, but somehow she got the feeling that by telling her, Chrysocolla could find herself in trouble, and as the maid had been kind (unlike mostly everyone) she didn't want to see her suffer.

"No, no." The blue-green maid shook her head. "No you don't. Don't play that card on me. I'm not telling you. If the queen hasn't informed you of Archipelago's escapades yet, than I certainly can't talk to you about them. So, shut up now, with all due respect, Your Majesty, and brace yourself for meeting a whole lot of dragons."

She pushed open the doors to the dining hall.

* * *

Chrysocolla was right about one thing.

There were a whole lot of dragons at breakfast.

But as for meeting a whole lot of them...well, maybe five or six counted as a lot? But not really.

Queen Orca beamed when she saw Cerulean enter the dining hall, immediately gesturing for her to sit in a seat immediately to the queen's right. Orca sat at the head of a long table, filled to bursting with blue and green dragons, eating as if there was no tomorrow. An array of dishes, baring food similar to the stuff Cerulean had eaten last night, was on the table, and plates with colorful foods were passed around, dragons speaking and smiling as they ate.

A muted hush had fallen over the group of eating dragons as Chrysocolla pulled out the chair and pushed it back in after Cerulean had taken her seat. The purple dragonet had never felt so awkward before, with eyes boring into her scales, causing them to prick uncomfortably. She wished that she was a RainWing right then, so that she could camouflage her scales and disappear so that the others felt like they were staring at empty air. Or maybe a SkyWing, because then she could spread her large wings and take flight to the sky and disappear forever.

Orca gestured grandly to Cerulean. "My subject," she said, sounding regal and certain like a queen should be, "I'm pleased to introduce you to your next queen. Please say hello to Princess Cerulean."

Nobody said hello.

Most dragons just gaped at her before returning to their meals as if trying to forget anything of importance had actually happened. Some shot her frightened glances, their eyes darting to the necklace and the bracelet Cerulean wore, and then to her talons as if they expected her to do something. Then, gazes averted, they too returned to their food. A few dragons even glared hostilely at the new SeaWing princess, the guard Lake among them. But underneath their hatred, Cerulean, when she glanced hastily at their eyes, was a wariness.

 _Why does no one seem to like me?_ she wondered, not for he first time, but then she tried to turn her mind to other thoughts.

Like the dragons sitting nearest her.

To her right, there was Orca, who was not talking to anybody, but merely eating her breakfast daintily and holding her cup of drink in front of her snout in a rather thoughtful manner, observing everyone with her unreadable blue gaze over the rim of her goblet.

To her left was a dragonet who, she figured, was only a bit older than herself, navy blue with silvery blue underscales and oddly colored eyes; one was the same color as his underscales, but the other was dark green. His snout reminded of Orca. _He must be one of the eleven princes._

She shot a quick glance around at the eating dragons. There was no sign of Archipelago.

The other prince, sitting on her left, shot her a sideways look. She realized she was staring at him again and hastily took a bite of shrimp from her plate.

"Hello," the prince spoke.

Cerulean choked in surprise at hearing his voice. Other than that brief sideways glance, she hadn't expected him to otherwise acknowledge her.

He laughed. "Hmm, I didn't know I was that scary!" he joked. "It's super cool to finally meet you. Like, I've heard so much about the supposed princess who's going to be the next queen because all my sisters keep dying, but I've never actually seen you. It's hard to believe you're real."

She jerked away from him when he attempted to poke her wing.

"Okay, you're pretty jumpy," he commented, taking a bite of his meal. "I was just trying to make sure you were real and everything. You are though, right?"

"I-I'm real," Cerulean managed, feeling nervous. A few other dragons were looking at her, and she felt pressurized by the heat of their gazes.

"That's good," the prince said, smiling cheekily. "I'm real too. Real awesome." He winked at her.

"Stop flirting with your sister, Spindrift," snapped a voice from across the table. Cerulean turned to see an older dragoness, perhaps fourteen or so years of age, with sapphire blue scales glittering with emerald and purple undertones.

"She's not my sister, though," the prince, Spindrift, said in an almost whiny tone. "And I wasn't flirting, _I was saying hello._ There's a difference but you just can't tell." He turned his attention back to Cerulean, a smile lighting up his snout again. "Sorry about her. That's Tetra. She's like our evil aunt or something. Actually," he looked back at the scowling older SeaWing, "are you our aunt? What even is your relation to me?"

Tetra scowled deeper. "Haha, very funny, Spindrift. Now eat your breakfast. You and I and several of your other brothers are going out on a hunting expedition after this."

"No..." groaned Spindrift. "Save me, princess!"

But conversation lapsed into silence as he ate his food, taking to glaring at Tetra, who glared right back at him.

Cerulean ate a few more bites of shrimp, letting her attention wander. There were many, many dragons sitting and eating, most of whom she didn't recognize at all. Now that she'd been here for a little while, most of the attention that had previously been on her had evaporated, and dragons had returned to their own conversations and meals.

She still didn't see Archipelago, but over by the door, she saw Eddy standing guard along with another dragonet she knew by name but had otherwise no other information about, Wave.

Wave, a dark blue dragonet with pale turquoise wings, was a bit unusual too, in the sense that she, like Eddy, was a bit young to be a full guard. Two years older than he and Cerulean, she was an imposing figure and it was often difficult to remember that she was only a dragonet. Cerulean didn't know much else about Wave.

"Do hurry up and eat, Cerulean," came Orca's voice. She set down her goblet gently onto the table. "We've got other things to do and not a lot of time. I'm thinking we'll look over the history of animus dragons after breakfast. How does that sound?"

"Okay," the purple dragonet replied.

"It sounds so boring." Cerulean jumped when Spindrift whispered these words to her under his breath, which smelled like tuna.

"You sound boring," Tetra shot across the table. "You think everything's boring."

"I take offense to that!" Spindrift said loudly. "I, for one, don't think _I'm_ boring at all. I'm the opposite of boring. You, on the other hand, Tetra, or whatever your name is, are the most boring thing in all of Pyrrhia. You're so boring you don't even know that you are boring, which just makes you all the more boring. You aren't even married, you don't even have any dragonets, nobody really knows how you're related to the royal family, and you've got seaweed stuck in between your teeth."

"Excuse me, no I don't!" Tetra yelped, attracting the attention of Orca, who'd already been watching with amusement, and several other dragons nearby. She covered her mouth with her talons, leaping up from the table. Her parting words were, "Hunting patrol's still on, and you can expect that _I'll_ expect even more from you than usual, _Spindrift._ And I'm your second-cousin once removed!"

She fled the dining hall.

Spindrift shot Cerulean a careless look. "Touchy Tetra."

Orca, too, had risen from the table, but in a more majestic manner. As she stood, she attracted the attention of all; they fell into a respectful silence.

"Cerulean, my dear," the queen said once silence had fallen completely, "I'll be in the library. I'm assuming you remember where that is? If not, have Eddy and Wave escort you there."

"I could take her," Spindrift suggested, and then fell into an uncharacteristically nervous silence at the intimidating look his mother sent him.

"I'll see you shortly," Orca finished, and then she swept from the dining hall.

A few moments after her tail had vanished from the door, the hall fell back into chatter.

"I can take you," Spindrift said.

"I'm sure you could," Cerulean replied, swallowing down her nervousness. _All those dragons - they were so respectful and polite when Orca stood up! They care so much for their queen...will they every look at me like that? Will I ever be what Orca will be to them?_

She didn't think so.

"I'm SO FULL," Spindrift announced. "But if I stop eating then breakfast will be over and then I have to GO ON A STUPID HUNTING PATROL WITH TOUCHY TETRA WHO'S MY SECOND COUSIN HOWEVER MANY TIMES REMOVED AND I HATE KILLING THINGS AND IT'S GOING TO BE SUPER BORING BLAH."

"I'm sorry?" Cerulean tried.

"It's okay, it's not your fault," Spindrift said, seeming to deflate slightly. "Are you sure I can't help you find your way to the library? It'll kill some time and maybe the hunting party will go without me. Although, I'm pretty sure Tetra's determined to take me with her, so maybe not, but still, please?"

"I know where the library is," Cerulean said, and felt bad when she saw the crestfallen look that filled his face. _I bet Spindrift knows where Archipelago went. And also about that incident that happened two years ago._ "But you could do something else. Your brother, Archipelago?"

A guarded look shifted onto the prince's snout.

 _That's weird,_ Cerulean thought. _Even his own brothers are cautious when discussing him. Whatever he did must be really bad..._

"Yes, what about him?" Spindrift asked. "If you're going to ask about that thing two years back, forget about it. We all want to forget about it, so you should want to too." His formerly eager and bubbly attitude had vanished. Now his voice was cold and almost...frightened?

"I wasn't," Cerulean lied. "I met him yesterday. He seemed awfully nice. I was wondering why he wasn't here at breakfast today."

"Oh." Spindrift's face relaxed. "He had morning lessons with Angelfish. He's probably done by now, but he normally skips breakfast anyway."

"I see," Cerulean said. "Could you take me to him? Um, we talked quite a bit yesterday, and we found out we have a lot in common, and um, we both really like...CORAL REEFS, and he said that he had a scroll on them that he'd let me borrow..."

A frown appeared on Spindrift's snout. "He likes coral reefs? That's weird. I didn't know that. I don't know if he'd like to be disturbed right now, but I have pretty much all the same scrolls he has, so I could give you mine instead."

"No, no," Cerulean protested. "Take me to him, please. That's an order."

Spindrift smirked at her. "It doesn't work like that. I'm a prince. You can't just order me around like some maid."

Chrysocolla appeared. "And I suppose you can just order me around? Because I'm just some maid?"

The prince's expression changed to one of repentance. "Oh no, Chrysocolla. But Miss Bossy Princess thinks _I_ am."

"Hm," was all the other dragon said as she cleared away several empty plates.

Cerulean had never felt more miserable in her life. Okay, that was a lie. There was that time when Bayou had stepped "accidentally" onto Slimy, Cerulean's pet snail. Or that time when Cerulean had forgotten all her homework, or when she'd dropped all her scrolls on the floor in front of her class, or when...

The list went on and on.

Once Chrysocolla had disappeared with the plates, Spindrift leaned towards Cerulean. "I'll take you to find Archipelago," he said, "but I'm telling you, you shouldn't spend much too much time around him."

 _I wish you would tell me why,_ Cerulean thought despairingly. "Let's go," she said out loud, feeling the most confident she had in a while.

"Just a warning," he said, and then his snout broke into another grin.

* * *

 **Author's** **Note:** This chapter was a little less exciting than all the others, so I apologize if this was a bit boring to read...but I felt like it was necessary, not only to introduce three new OC's (by the way, thank you Pancake Unicorn, Jaysong, xXSilverdreamXx, and jade wolf334!) but also because it sort of sets up Archipelago's...shall we say, shady history. If all goes according to the plan I have in my head, this might be a part of future dramatic-ness. So stick with me, please and thank you!

Hmm, what else must I say? I'm thinking that Part One will go to Chapter 8, and then Part Two to Chapter 16 maybe. Both of these things aren't for a little while, though.

Lastly, I still would like OC's! Mostly for the ten brothers, but also for various members of the Royal family/dragons living in the palace. Please and thank you!

Also, thank you to all my readers and reviewers! I appreciate you all so much, and it makes my day when people leave reviews (I also tend to update faster...haha). But thank you guys sooooooooooooooo infinitely much for reading!

 **Pancake Unicorn:** Thank you for being so supportive of my writing! It really means a lot. I'm glad you enjoyed the prologue, and I do definitely agree that it's a lot more exciting to see another installment of the story, so that you can find out more! And I'm glad you like Archipelago and Chrysocolla, who is jadewolf334's OC and really fun to write for. Both will be in this story in the future. Also, definitely more will be revealed regarding Archipelago's last but I obviously can't say what! The screaming is just part of Cerulean's dreams, which you'll also find out more of. Thanks again for your support and for reading!

 **jadewolf334:** Thank you so much for all of your support and comments. Receiving reviews from you is like getting Christmas presents! It's really good to know that you like how Chrysocolla's character is turning out. I tried to add some sarcasm for her but I'm not sure how that turned out. It's really fun writing for her and I'm thinking she'll be pretty involved in the plot. That's a very interesting theory you have there, but I can't tell you if you're right or not...;). Your welcome, and thanks for your review! I'm really glad you liked the moon scene. I was going for something really descriptive because...reasons. Thank you for the compliment! You are an amazing author too and I'm looking forward to reading the next chapter of your fanfic! Thanks so much for reading!

 **Jaysong:** First off, I love that name! Super unique and cool. Secondly, thank you so much for taking time to write up a review with your OC Spindrift! And it's okay that there were so many. With guest reviews it's a bit weird, but it means a lot to me that you took time to make sure you got your request through! I really enjoyed writing for Spindrift's character, and I'm thinking that I'll use him in future chapters! I hope you liked what I wrote for him! And thank you for the compliment. Thanks for reading!

 **xXSilverdreamXx:** I know there wasn't a lot of Wave in this chapter, but there'll be more of her in future chapters, I can promise you that. Thank you so much for leaving a review and an OC for me to use. Much appreciated! And thank you for the compliment! It really means a lot, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 5

I do not own Wings of Fire.

* * *

Chapter 5

Spindrift led the way out of the dining hall, past multitudes of dragons in various different colors of blue and green. He pointed out several of them as they past, making rather snarky comments about each that amused Cerulean, though she tried not to show it.

Soon they'd exited the hall, and were wondering down seemingly endless winding corridors.

"There are so many of us princes," Spindrift explained. "Not only the eleven of us, but also the thirty-two other princes who were Coral's sons. Orca is super annoyed at all of them, but after she became queen, she didn't have the heart to kick all of them out, so they all live with us too."

"You've got a whole wing to the castle to yourselves, then?" Cerulean asked. It must be nice, having so many familiar faces nearby. While her own siblings hadn't always been the nicest, their presence was always comforting, and here in the palace, there was no one to turn to for comfort anymore. Except for Eddy, when she saw him, which was often but never often enough.

"Hmm," Spindrift replied distractedly. "Yes, in a way, but we all have to share rooms, so it's more like I personally get a bed to myself."

"No, I meant you and all your brothers, silly," Cerulean chided.

"Yeah, then, we do have a wing to ourselves," Spindrift nodded, shooting a smirk at her.

"That must be nice," the purple dragonet sighed nostalgically. "I miss my family."

"Not to sound cold or anything, but I'd be jumping for joy if I was in your position," Spindrift commented absently. "You can't imagine how impossibly ANNOYING it is to have so many brothers - and, I guess, uncles? That's so weird. I never really thought of Orca's brothers as my uncles, but I guess they are. That's SO WEIRD."

"I think I know what it's like," Cerulean replied sympathetically. "I had twenty-seven siblings."

"OCEAN CURRENTS," Spindrift yelped. "That's a lot! But not as many as I have. Well, I guess I technically have only ten siblings, because all the other princes are actually my uncles, but they're like my brothers so I feel like I have more than ten."

"Do you like them, your brothers?" asked Cerulean. "And, um, I guess you're uncles?"

Spindrift shrugged. "I mean, they're my brothers so I kind of have to."

"Yeah," she replied. "I know what you mean."

There was silence between them for a beat, and then the blue SeaWing spoke up again. "Here we are. Well, this is my room at least." He opened the door. "You all missed breakfast," he said to the room, addressing his brothers.

"Already ate," said one of them, dark blue dragon with lighter green scales dotted along his body, almost like freckles. He didn't look up from the ground, where he was designing an intricate-looking contraption that kept falling over, much to his apparent annoyance.

Another prince, this one so dark blue he was nearly indigo, spoke. "Azure's too busy to eat! I told him he wouldn't be able to stop building whatever this is - and I can't figure out _what_ it is, even though I keep poking at it to see what it does - if he doesn't eat!"

"I told you, it's something to stop SkyWing's - " he shuddered as he mentioned the tribe - "from attacking our beautiful kingdom ever again."

The second prince snorted. "Yeah right, like Mother will ever use anything _you've_ designed. She's always so grumpy around you, especially after you've pulled some joke on her."

Azure made a face, still not looking up. "You're just jealous because you're not smart enough to do anything worthy of Mother's attention, Freakwave."

"THAT IS A LIE!" exclaimed Freakwave dramatically. His wings lifted, scales flashing, revealing light blue scales on his body. "Mother totally notices me! Especially that last time when I stuck my talons in her shrimp."

Spindrift gave Cerulean, who was watching the dialogue between his brothers with a bit of wariness on her face, a lopsided smile.

"Well, these are the idiots that I'm related to," he said, and gestured to each dragonet in turn. "Azure, and Freakwave."

Freakwave looked up and a smile lit up his face. "Ooh! Spindrift's brought a _female_ over! Spindrift," he smirked. "Like to introduce us? Anything you've forgotten to mention?"

Cerulean backed away, feeling a bit nervous by the huge smile on the older dragonet's face. It was very strange to see these princes, these brothers, behaving as they did, so casually teasing of each other. Back home, her siblings were in a constant competitive race. Everything was a challenge; who could swim the fastest, who could find the most seashells, who could collect the most coconuts, do their homework the fastest, take the quickest shower, even eat the most at meals, or eat the fastest. But these dragonets had a different vibe to them. They weren't ultra-competitive; they were relaxed.

Spindrift was speaking. "This is the next queen," he said, and smirked at the horrified look on Freakwave's face.

"WAIT, WHAT IS SHE DOING HERE?" he yelped. "Spindrift, what are you up to?"

Azure looked up. "Freakwave, they're not up to anything. Just taking a stroll or something."

"I know Spindrift very well," Freakwave announced. "I know LOTS about him. He has all good notes in his classes, his favorite of which is marine studies. He hates shrimp, loves eating seaweed for some reason, and also still sleeps with his stuffed animal Dewy the Dolphin."

"I DO NOT!" Spindrift defended, looking very embarrassed as he shot a look at Cerulean.

Cerulean spoke up at that moment. "Uhm, hi. I'm Cerulean. It's a, um, a pleasure, right, to meet you all and everything. But Spindrift, shouldn't we, uh, be going?"

Spindrift flicked his tail. "I don't know where Archipelago is. He'd be here if he was here. He's our other roommate."

"Ooh, looking for Archipelago?" asked Freakwave excitedly as if this were something super scandalous. "I wouldn't go after him just about now. He's SUPER upset because Mother totally came up to our room last night and banged on the door, and then got super angry at Azure because he pulled a prank on her a stole her tiara, but instead of being mad at Azure she got MORE mad at Archipelago and I don't know what she said to him but when he came back he kind of just glared at everyone and I thought he was going to MURDER me."

He took a huge breath. "Wow, I said that all in one breath."

Cerulean ignored this amazing feat and inquired, "The queen came to speak with him? Why?"

It was Spindrift who answered. "We don't know. But Freakwave's right, for once in a life time. Archipelago's pretty upset about whatever that was. And when he's moody, he's...well, he's dangerous."

"How so?" Cerulean continued probing. "And don't say 'I can't tell you.' I mean it. Why is Archipelago so dangerous? Why is everyone scared of him?"

The three brothers exchanged nervous glances. Even Azure stopped tinkering around with his project, instead choosing to fiddle nervously with his talons.

"Well," Azure began. "There's a reason SkyWings are SO TERRIFYING."

"Oh my moons," Cerulean sighed. She was getting very frustrated, which was a fairly rare feeling for her. She was normally semi-patient. But this was really bugging her. She needed to know about Archipelago. She needed to find him. She needed someone to just stop with all the secrets and tell her why the prince was so terrifying.

"It's okay, Azure just has a mortal fear of SkyWings," Spindrift said. "I swear, if one day he turns out to be a SkyWing, I'll laugh my head off," he added as a failed attempt to lighten the mood.

"That's not possible," Azure said, shaking his head.

"You're not distracting me from my question," Cerulean spoke again, ashamed to hear her voice wobble. Her frustration was mounting, but when all three princes looked at her with their piercing gazes, she felt like she was turning to jelly.

"Ceru - whatever your name is," Freakwave began.

"Cerulean," Spindrift corrected.

"That's what I SAID," Freakwave answered as if his brother were the stupidest thing ever. "Anyway, _Cerulean,_ I know you don't like to hear this, but the truth is, _we can't tell you why everyone's afraid of our brother."_ This was stated in a dramatic whisper, but the drama didn't seem unnecessary. Because Cerulean's own heart was beating rapidly, time seemed to be slowing down, and if music was playing in the background, it would certainly have been dark and scary.

Azure and Spindrift nodded at these words from their brother.

"What do you mean, you can't tell me?" Cerulean asked. "You literally just need to say a few words, relate some terrible history or something, and then I'll know. Maybe if you tell me," she added to Spindrift, "I'll stop wanting to find Archipelago."

Spindrift looked like someone had just died. This expression didn't fit him well. "Cerulean, when we say that we can't tell you, it means we literally can't tell you. _Physically_ can't tell you."

His brother Azure spoke up. "It's true. It's like, we _remember_ that we're supposed to be scared of Archipelago, but we can't remember _why_ we're supposed to be afraid of him. Believe me, we've tried. And whenever one of us tries to bring up the whole incident, it's like...we get tongue-tied or something. Our voice stops working. And we can't speak again until we've forgotten."

 _This makes no sense,_ Cerulean thought. _How can this be? It must be some kind of animus magic keeping them silent, but the only known animus dragon in this kingdom is Orca. She wouldn't cast any kind of spell on her own dragonets, would she? Even though she doesn't really like her sons all that much. But she wouldn't do that unless it was really dangerous, would she?_

"So you're scared of Archipelago because of something he's done, but you don't remember what it is?" she asked to clarify.

"Yeah," Spindrift nodded.

"Totally," Azure agreed. "I'm almost more scared of Archipelago than I am of SkyWings, but NOTHING is worse than those red monsters. Speaking of which, I'd better get back to work on my invention." The blue dragon returned his attention to the contraption in front of him.

"Which will be TOTALLY useless," Freakwave added as he too turned to look at the thing, toying with a few of the mechanisms and hissing when Azure batted his talons away.

"I think you'd better get going," Spindrift said to Cerulean. "I'm sorry Archipelago wasn't around. But I'll tell him you were looking for him. And I've got to get ready for that hunting party with Touchy Tetra." He made a face.

Cerulean slumped, feeling dejected. "Thanks. I guess I better had. The queen will have been long ago expecting me."

Spindrift smiled. "Yes, she would've. Well, it was super nice to meet you, Cerulean. And just for the record, now that I've met you, I totally think you're going to be a great queen. Not that I've actually talked to you or learned much about you, really, but I've just got this feeling. And besides, because I live in this kingdom, it will definitely be the best."

She snorted but smiled. "Bye, Spindrift, Freakwave, Azure."

Spindrift waved in response, while his brothers muttered their farewells, still intent on the SkyWing contraption.

* * *

Cerulean was lost.

She'd been too intent on her conversation with Spindrift when she'd come walking to the wing with all of the princes, and even if she hadn't, there were so many twists and turns that she would've been lucky to memorize them all.

Needless to say, she was very confused.

 _The queen's going to kill me,_ she thought, and then shuddered at the thought of her death. _Okay, she won't kill me - most likely - because haha, I am the heir to throne - chosen by the queen herself! So she can't kill me. But I'm still seriously dead. Think of something to say when I finally meet her, if I ever do...something convincing..._

Considering so many dragons lived in the Summer Palace, she never ran into one as she wondered around aimlessly, growing more desperate by the minute. _They're all still eating,_ she thought dejectedly.

Finally, she rounded a corner, looking over her shoulder, and ran right into a aqua colored dragon who was dressed in a guard's uniform. She yelped, stumbling backwards, and for a moment her hopes leaped - Eddy! - and then realized that this dragon was the wrong color and much too big.

The positive thing was that she was wearing a very friendly smile.

"Hi!" the guard chirped. "I'm so sorry I ran into you. You must be important because you're wearing jewelry. Um, I think this is where I curtsey?" The dragon attempted an awkward bending motion.

"Um, you're okay," Cerulean said, feeling even more awkward than the other probably felt. "You don't have to curtsey, but if you don't mind, could you lead me to the library? The queen is expecting me..."

"Oh!" the guard exclaimed, immediately straightening back up. "Of course I don't mind at all! I knew you were important, meeting the queen! I've never talked to her in my life, which isn't saying much at all. I'm pretty much the newest member to the guards..."

"Well, nice to meet you then," Cerulean replied with a smile, feeling nervous. "I'm Cerulean."

"And I'm Aquamarine," the dragon replied with a smile. "Right this way. I think this is where I'm supposed to add Your Majesty? I'm so sorry, this is so embarrassing. This is my first interaction with actual royalty, so I apologize. I must sound rude."

"No, you're doing fine," Cerulean assured Aquamarine. "Don't worry, I'm new here too. I'd prefer to be called by name, actually."

"Okay," Aquamarine chirped, starting to walk, and then she grimaced, looking back at the purple dragonet following her. "Um, sorry. I actually kind of forgot your name already?"

"Cerulean," she reminded the guard gently.

"Right," Aquamarine nodded seriously. "Please don't tell Gail - he's my boss, basically, other than the queen. But really, he's already on my case about my personality."

"I won't," Cerulean promised, wondering who in all the ocean Gail was.

* * *

"And...we're here!" Aquamarine announced. The two of them were now standing in front of brown wooden doors with golden handles and stained glass windows. She reached to open the door, but it opened before she could.

Out came two dragons, both guards, a rather large grayish blue one and a greener one. They had serious expressions on their snouts, but they looked more concerned than angry.

"Oh, there you are, Your Majesty!" exclaimed the grayish male one when he saw Cerulean. "The queen was absolutely scared out of her mind when you didn't show up. What were you thinking, worrying Her Highness like that?" he added scoldingly to her. "And Aquamarine, what are you doing here? You were supposed to go out with that hunting party!"

"H-Hey, Gail," Aquamarine stuttered. "And THREE MOONS, I totally forgot about that! I am so infinitely sorry! I'll go right now. It was nice to meet you and everything, Cerulean, bye!" She disappeared.

Gail sighed. "I apologize," he said to Cerulean. "Aquamarine means well, but she's so distracted she always messes everything up, forgets stuff..."

"Doesn't respect her elders, sometimes," the female guard added.

"It's okay, she's very nice," Cerulean spoke timidly, feeling nervous in front of two such powerful guards.

Gail flicked his gray tail. "Typhoon," he said, smiling at the other, "please go after Aquamarine and assign several more guards to that hunting party - I have a feeling that they might need a bit more protection, if you know what I mean."

"I do," Typhoon replied with a smile. She briefly curled her tail around Gail's, and then disappeared too.

The guard shook out his wings, and then beckoned for Cerulean to follow him into the library.

"Oh, thank the moons!" Orca exclaimed when she saw Cerulean. She wrapped her wings around the purple dragonet, and then said, "I was so worried! I know that I really shouldn't have been, seeing as I don't think you'd have left the castle, but with all my daughters dying, you must understand my paranoia when you didn't show up when I'd expected you to. Where have you been? What took you so long?"

Cerulean winced, the lie she'd planned to tell the queen slipping from the tip of her tongue unconvincingly. "I - I was finishing my meal, and then I tried to find the library and I, um, got lost."

"And nobody found you?" Orca asked, looking not at all suspicious as she swallowed the lie full. "Three moons! What kind of world are we living in? But never mind that now. You're here, and we are a bit behind schedule so we've got to get going with this lesson."

The queen turned back, and Cerulean got a clear view past her, at a table stacked with official looking scrolls. And also, another dragonet. And looking at her, dark sapphire blue scales gleaming in the lights of the library, dark gray-blue eyes gleaming, Cerulean had a feeling that another problem had just entered her already problematic life.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** So, sorry if that chapter felt a bit rushed. And also sorry that Archipelago didn't appear in it! But he'll probably appear next time. This was mostly a chapter for some information, but also a bit of character building. Thank you to everyone who left OC's for me to use! The ones I have now will likely have pretty big roles in the story, so I'm hoping everyone doesn't mind. If you've got a problem with that, let me know and I'll try to fix it.

Hmm, anything else I must speak of? I do not believe so. Read and review as always! Thank you all for reading!

 **Someone:** Thank you for all of your kind and eager reviews! I'm so glad you think this a great fanfiction! That means so much, as do all of your other compliments. A million thank you's could not cover how grateful I am to you. Don't worry, I definitely plan to continue this story as I have a whole plot planned out, and I hope you approve of Azure's character! I know he's supposed to be funny and quirky and I sort of wrote him off as quieter, but I will definitely try to bring out those characteristics in him soon! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!

 **jadewolf334:** Thank you! Sorry that Chrysocolla didn't appear in this chapter, but she will in later ones. I'm glad you liked my characterization of her. I think I've mentioned this before but she's really fun to write for. I feel like her personality's a lot like mine, so I really like writing scenes with her in it. Cerulean would also like to thank you for the compliment of her! I must admit, in this chapter I found it a bit difficult to be consistent with the personality I'd established previously for her. I struggled with her timid side, especially in the scene with the three brothers. She had a bold moment there, and then I tried to reasonably tone down her sudden boldness into her more familiar timidity. Thank you for the compliment! And you're reviews are fine, I love reading them so much and they make me super happy! Spindrift is also really fun to write for, although again I feel like I failed epically at his funnier side in the chapter. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

 **Guest:** Thank you thank you thank you! I'm blushing, seriously, at all your kind words! Reading your review made me so happy! And I was more than happy to include your OC in the story. Aquamarine is great for writing. I know you didn't include 'nervousness' in her character, so I hope you don't mind that I made her that way around Gail and Typhoon. I just felt that, given her rank as a low guard and the rest of her personality traits, she'd be a bit shy and overly nervous around dragons who are "more important" than she is. Please don't be mad at me! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and thank you so much for reading and reviewing!

 **Pancake Unicorn:** Thanks! Good to know this is intriguing. I'm afraid you didn't find much out about Archipelago in this chapter...MWAHAHA. Just kidding. Thank you, I'm glad you think Spindrift is hilarious, and no problem! Sorry Tetra was only briefly mentioned in this chapter, but she might appear later on. More chapters are on the way after this one. And thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **My OC Storm:** Thank you for leaving such a descriptive profile. I know Storm didn't technically appear in the chapter...well she did, but at the end. There will be a feature with her in the next chapter! And just a heads up, I might at first write her off like she's Cerulean's rival, but I promise she's not. It's just that she'll know that Cerulean lied to Orca, and like you said, she doesn't like dragons who lied! So she's kind of upset about that. Tell me if you'd rather that not happen, and I'll try to comply, to my best ability. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!

 **Queenyisthebestmedicen:** First, a question of utmost importance. Are you a fan of Fantastic Beasts, and when mean Queeny from that movie? Or is this some other Queeny you are referring to? Please let me know, I really want to find out. (I loved the Fantastic Beasts movie, by the way.) Secondly, thanks for leaving an OC! I know that Gail and Typhoon only appeared briefly in this chapter, but you'll see more of them, along with Dolphin. Also, is Dolphin male or female? I'm guessing male, but if you'd like to tell me, please do! Otherwise I'll assume male. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!

 **Jaysong:** It is such a relief to know that I wrote Spindrift well! Thank you so much! I tried to include more Spindrift flirting in this chapter, but hmm, not sure if that worked. This character is really amusing in my opinion. And, if you don't mind, I will continue to use him throughout this story. Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed this chapter! And no problem, I love Spindrift. Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **Remained unnamed:** Thanks for your OC Freakwave! I continue to beyond appreciate all your support and enthusiasm. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!

Wow, that author's note was probably longer than the story...sorry.


	7. Chapter 6

I do not own Wings of Fire.

* * *

Chapter 6

Cerulean sat rather stiffly down in a chair, opposite the mysterious new dragonet who sat at the table too. Gallantly, Orca drew up a seat for herself and gracefully sat down, her talons beginning to almost unconsciously sort scrolls into different piles. There was a moment os silence in which only the soft rustling of scrolls sounded, and in which Cerulean and the mysterious new dragonet simply stared at each other, neither hostile nor friendly, merely curious.

"Well, I suppose you two might introduce yourselves," Orca said after neither had spoken.

"Of course," the other dragonet said. She looked down at the table, away from Cerulean, in an almost shy manner. "I'm Storm."

"Nice to meet you," Cerulean said, determined to not only impress the queen with her manners, but also dazzle this new dragonet - Storm - as well. She was't sure who Storm was, but she seemed like some sort of competition.

"Right," Orca said. "Storm, Cerulean, as you likely know, is going to be the next queen of the SeaWings, whenever I happen to die." The queen smiled warmly at Cerulean, but something seemed off in her eyes.

"I'm a princess," Storm told Cerulean, sounding nervous. "But only distantly related. I'll never get to be queen."

Something relaxed inside of Cerulean. So this dragonet _was_ a princess, but she wasn't competition. Not in the sense that they'd both be competing for the throne.

 _Of course not, seaweed brain,_ she thought to herself. _Given the fact that you're here in the castle learning how to become the queen, obviously there are no candidates for the throne!_

Another part of her added, _And besides, since when did you want to be queen? You should be dismayed that this princess Storm can't be queen!_

"Yes, yes, but you'll be an advisor someday," Orca assured the blue dragonet, waving away Storm's comment with her talons. "And that means you two will need to get to know each other well. I, unfortunately, have never been lucky enough to have a dragon I'd trust with my life by my side, and I know a strong queen should have one. So, as a favor to you, Cerulean, I'd like to introduce you to your future advisor."

Storm and Cerulean just stared at each other.

"Okay then," Cerulean said at last, just to break the awkward silence.

Orca frowned a bit. "Hmm. I thought you'd be more excited, but that's okay. I get you weren't expecting it or anything. Anyway, why don't we spend some time bonding together?" The queen attempted to sound excited, but failed. She was much better at being diplomatic than acting caring, although she had managed several concerned glances at Cerulean every now and then.

"Um, okay," Storm hesitated. "Well, you know I'm Storm. I'm the queen's niece, so I mean, I could challenge but the laws have changed in recent years - and I really like to read."

"Me too," Cerulean offered.

"My favorite food is shrimp," Storm added, looking at a loss for words. "Um, that's about it. I mean, there's more to me, but not all that much that you need to know."

"Cool," Cerulean replied.

"Wow, I feel so bonded to you all now," Orca commented drily. She examined the scroll in her talons. "Now, Cerulean, I've assigned Gail, the guard you met on your way into the library, as your escort around the palace - just to make sure you never get lost again going from one place to another."

 _Oh no,_ Cerulean thought worriedly. _I won't be able to go and look for Archipelag_ o _\- and I also kind of doubt the queen would approve of my friendship with Spindrift or any of her sons..._

Something seemed to be burning into her scales, and looking up, she realized that Storm was giving her a sharp look.

"Really?" the sapphire blue dragonet asked the queen, who looked up in surprise. Storm continued, "Is an escort really necessary? I mean, I do understand that the Summer Palace is large, but it's laid out logically and easy to get around. I fail to see the need for an escort, and I also don't understand why Princess Cerulean was so late to our lessons when the feasting hall is less than a few doors away from the library."

Orca's gaze fixed on the both of them, and seemingly in unison both princesses shrunk away from her.

Cerulean's momentary ease around Storm, which hadn't lasted long at all, evaporated. Storm may not have been a threat to the throne, but she was smart and clever. She could still land Cerulean in trouble.

 _She knows I lied about where I was,_ Cerulean thought, cringing.

"Now, now, you two," Orca said, as if she sensed tension between the two. "You're very well matched, especially intellectually. I don't want you to go pulling each other apart. With a team like you overlooking the main proceedings in the Sea Kingdom, our tribe will be in good talons. Storm, I will decide what's best for Cerulean. Cerulean, do try to not get as lost as often as you seem to."

"Of course, Your Majesty," the two said simultaneously, and then refused to acknowledge that they'd spoken at the same time.

"Good," Orca smiled widely, showing her ivory colored teeth. She handed each of them a pile of scrolls. "Now, lately I've been having to do a lot of research regarding our history as a tribe and all that excitement. Yawn, it's pretty boring actually, but it must be done. Reading important documents is a very important job as queen. But I've finished most of this, and I'd like you to sort all these scrolls by category, author, and date, and then alphabetize them."

The queen separated a pile of scrolls for each princess, and then Storm and Cerulean set to work.

"Good, you're very efficient," Orca said once they'd been sorting for a while. She rose from her chair, which was nearly as ornate as the throne she sat in, and swept away from them, towards the doors of the library. "I'll be heading down for my daily round at the Deep Palace. You'll not be going with me today, Cerulean, but perhaps tomorrow. Once you two are finished with that, you've got the afternoon to yourselves."

The princesses mumbled to show they had heard and continued to sort.

So many titles sifted by Cerulean's slowly tiring eyes. _Albatross's Biography, The SeaWing Massacre, Queen Pearl the Wise, The Perils of Animus Magic, SkyWing Egg Incubation, Animus Dragonets, a Fiction Story Based on the Works of Queen Octopus, How Bad is Too Bad?, Why Did the SeaWings Choose Blister?, Tsunami, Dragonet of Destiny: A Work in Progress._

"So, you are Delta and Finn's daughter," Storm spoke up at last. She didn't falter as she sorted another scroll, this one titled _Genetics_ and picked up another.

"Yes," Cerulean mumbled, feeling a bit shy now that Orca's imposing presence was absent.

"You told the truth," Storm murmured.

"Of course I did," Cerulean replied. "Why wouldn't I?"

Storm now looked up, her dark eyes catching Cerulean's. "Because you've got nothing to hide. But really, why were you late to class today? I know, it shouldn't be any of my business, but when dragons lie, it really bothers me. So to let me have a peace of mind, won't you please tell me where you were? Because I know you were somewhere."

Cerulean shrugged. "As long as you don't tell me I can't see him, then I was looking for Archipelago - you know, the queen's son?"

The other princess's snout twisted with amusement. "Well, she's got several of those. But yes, I do know Archipelago."

Setting down her current scroll, Cerulean leaned across the table. Storm so far had not said anything negative against the prince; perhaps this was her chance to get some more information on Archipelago, to find out more about him. But Storm might also be unable to talk about whatever the SeaWing prince had done to his brother in the nursery, and why everyone was so scared of him.

So instead she asked, "Why is nobody able to speak about what he did to his brother, when he hatched?"

Storm looked thoughtful. She too stopped sorting, her talons instead falling idly around the necklace on her neck - a beautiful necklace, carved with a shining ebony orca with mother-of-pearl and sapphire.

"Well, I too seem to be whatever curse prevents anyone from speaking of the incident," the dragonet said at last. "And yes," she added, at Cerulean's surprised look - _a curse was preventing dragons from speaking?_ "I know it's a curse. It must be. Nothing else could stop something so important from falling from my mouth."

"But who would cast a curse?" asked Cerulean. Her uneasiness around Storm was forgotten; she was too curious. "And it seems it's on the whole tribe, too. What kind of animus dragon would curse an entire tribe, waste their soul, just to hush up some incident several years ago?"

"It wasn't just some incident," Storm replied. "It was big. At least, that's what everyone heard. But really, there were not that many witnesses to when - " At this her voice broke off into a harsh noise. Her eyes widened and she clutched at her throat, and then her snout relaxed again. "Sorry. That's what happens when you try to mention what happened. It is a curse, I tell you."

"But it has to do with Archipelago?" Cerulean asked to confirm.

Storm nodded. "Yes. Him and his brother."

"And how many animus dragons do we have in this tribe?" Cerulean questioned.

"Three," Storm replied. "Azure is one, but rather weak. He's put all his magic into a vessel so as not to waste his soul. And there's the princes' main mentor, Waterfall - she's one too. She's mostly in charge of teaching Azure and testing all of the dragonets yearly, on the look out for new ones. And then there's the queen. She's by far the most powerful."

"So one of the three of them enchanted the whole tribe?" Cerulean wondered aloud.

"Must be," Storm agreed. "Unless there are other unidentified animus that I don't know about. But why would they do that?"

Before Cerulean could reply, a snout poked into the library. She recognized Gail.

"Hey all," he said. "Just checking in on your progress. Have any of you seen Archipelago? Waterfall's looking for him."

The two shook their heads. "No, we haven't seen him."

Gail nodded. "All right. I'll be off then. If the prince wanders by, tell him we're looking for him."

"Okay."

The moment the guard disappeared back into the hallway, Storm and Cerulean returned to their conversation.

"Hmm, I suppose I can see why the queen thought we'd make a good team," Storm said with a smile.

"Why is Waterfall looking for him, though?" Cerulean brought up a new question.

"Well," Storm said, "there's been a bit of a conspiracy lately - someone's convinced a lot of dragons that Archipelago might be an animus, and that's why everyone's so scared of him. But the queen's been adamant - 'No testing him, I don't care if you think he's an animus, we've got three in the tribe already' - always refusing to have him tested for animus dragons."

She flicked the last scroll in her pile off to the side, and with a special spell that had been enchanted into the library, the scrolls, now sorted suitably, flew from the table and began to shelve themselves in a rhythmic fashion. Storm smiled a bit show-offishly at Cerulean before continuing, "I feel a bit bad about it, knowing what's going on. But when the queen's away, a massive hunt starts up, looking for Archipelago so that the theory can be tested before the queen can get back."

"But is Archipelago an animus dragon?" asked Cerulean.

Storm had started to finish Cerulean's sorting, seeing as the heir was too distracted by all the information she was gleaning.

"Well, that's a debatable topic," Storm said. "Hmm, what genre does _Flying Penguins: A Hope For the Future_ belong in? Nature, or science?"

"Nature," Cerulean said automatically without thinking.

"Anyway," Storm continued, sorting the scroll into science instead, "I'm not really sure if he's an animus. I've been studying him - he's my latest project - and he does have that air about him, if you know what I mean. He's got this buzz around him, kind of like energy, that most animus dragons have. So do you, but I assume that it's because you've got animus jewelry on. But if Archipelago were an animus, then surely he would've manifested by now?"

Cerulean shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. I don't know anything about animus dragons."

Storm shrugged. "There are plenty of scrolls about them. I know most of the basics, but all of the more detailed scrolls about animus magic have got spells on them; only certain dragons are actually allowed to read them."

The sapphire dragonet had finished sorting the second piles of scrolls by now, and with a similar flick of her tail, she sent them off for shelving.

"Well, we're done now," she beamed. "We could go talk to Azure. He's an animus. I'm sure he'd be able to help us. You've met him, based on the expression you've got on your snout."

"Yes," Cerulean admitted.

"Three moons!" Storm yelped. "I'm getting good at guessing! I really didn't know, by the way. Your snout looks exactly the same as always - really boring. But now I do know. So you met Archipelago's roommates?"

"Spindrift, Azure, Freakwave," Cerulean listed.

Storm laughed. "Ah, the legendary Freakwave. And the equally legendary Spindrift. Come on, let's go."

* * *

And thanks to everything that happened in the library, Cerulean ended up twenty feet above the ground tangled in a massive net and thrashing about.

Well, it really wasn't the library's fault, but she was super angry at how everything had turned out, so Cerulean decided to blame everything that she could - the net, the ceiling, the air, the sea, Storm, Azure and his stupid SkyWing trap, Azure and his stupid animus magic, Spindrift, Freakwave, that weird blue-gray dragonet next to Spindrift, and yes, the library.

Storm and Cerulean had been headed towards Spindrift and his brothers' room, making more speculations on what made Archipelago so terrifying when - BAM. Cerulean was swept off her feet, completely disoriented by the sudden lack of space around her and also by Storm's loud scream.

"IT'S A SKYWING!" Azure's frantic and terrified voice came floating up from the ground twenty feet below. Cerulean stopped thrashing in the net, desperate to catch sight of the evil dragon who had masterminded this terrible trap and who would certainly pay for it later.

"You fool!" shouted Freakwave from a distance. "What would a SkyWing be doing down here? And even if there was a SkyWing, not only is it trapped in the vice-like confines of your contraption - which, I admit, might not work, but you know what, I'm going to say it will - but you also HAPPEN TO BE AN ANIMUS DRAGON."

"BUT IT'S A SKYWING!" Azure retorted, sounding close to hyperventilating. "They're dangerous creatures. And if it's not a SkyWing, Freakwave, what else could it be? I specifically spelled it to - "

"Oh, hey, look, it's Cerulean!" Spindrift pointed out in an all to cheerful manner.

"GET ME DOWN FROM HERE," Cerulean commanded in the loudest voice she'd ever used. _Hmm, I sounded queenly. That is a shock. I need to remember this voice and use it more often._

"Three moons, she sounds like Tsunami when she's angry," a new voice commented.

"Be quiet, Puddle," Spindrift ordered. "Um, Azure? Can you please unenchant the net?"

"But I don't understand," Azure mumbled.

"You no speak my language?" asked Spindrift in an extremely terrible accent.

"No, smart one," Freakwave snapped. "He speaks your language, although sometimes it's difficult to understand. He doesn't understand something else, duh."

"This net was enchanted to only capture SkyWings," Azure said, looking up at Cerulean.

Still maintaining her magnificent queenly voice, Cerulean roared, "I DON'T CARE WHAT IT WAS MEANT TO DO. JUST GET ME DOWN FROM HERE!"

Storm nodded. "I agree. We can discuss all your fascinating powers later, after Cerulean can talk without yelling."

A few moments later, Cerulean was on the ground, still tangled in the net.

"Ow," she groaned, having been practically slammed onto the palace floor. "Azure, I know we just met, but I'm going to have to kill you in the near future."

Azure shuddered. "Maybe she actually is a SkyWing. She's pretty mad."

The blue-gray dragon named Puddle snorted. "I'd be angry too if I'd been swept up by a net too. She's a dragon, Azure, not a fish."

"Or a SkyWing," Spindrift added.

Free of the net, Cerulean stood up on all fours. "I thought you were out hunting with Tetra."

Spindrift shrugged. "Yeah. I was, but then Tetra mysteriously got trapped in seaweed and the whole thing got cancelled."

"Totally not suspicious," Puddle added.

Storm rolled her eyes. "I hope you'll apologize to her later, Spindrift, you naughty dragonet."

"You're not my mom," the prince pouted. "But it's good you all came here. It's gonna be a party with so many dragons!"

"We're not here to party," Cerulean spoke up, dismayed to see that her queenly voice had been crushed now that she was out of the net.

"That's right," Storm added. She gave the purple dragonet a reassuring smile. "We need to talk. With Azure. About his animus powers. It's important."

"And has anyone seen Archipelago?" Cerulean added.

Spindrift groaned. "Come on, are we all not amazing enough for you?"

"He's probably hiding from Waterfall and Gail and all the dragons who want to force him to be an animus," Puddle answered. "Not that you can force someone to be an animus. Let's just go party."

She and Spindrift, followed by a very exasperated Freakwave ("You can't cast any good spells, Azure, that's why the net failed!") into the princes' room.

Cerulean was about to follow, but she noticed Azure, who was examining the net with a very perplexed expression on his face, and Storm, who was watching Azure with a critical expression on her face.

"What's wrong?" asked the heir.

"Nothing," Storm replied. "Well, something, but I'm sure it's not important. Come on, Azure."

"I still don't get it," Azure said, looking heartbrokenly dejected as he followed Storm into the room, leaving the net that had once held Cerulean in it behind in the hallway for some unfortunate dragon to get tangled in sometime in the near future.

Cerulean was left alone in the hallway with it.

 _It's meant to only catch SkyWings,_ she thought, and realized what Storm had been thinking about only moments ago as she stared at Azure. _Perhaps Azure's magic is faulty, like Freakwave was saying. That's the only explanation as to why it caught me._

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Okay, that chapter was hopefully a bit enlightening! More stuff has been discovered! Mysteries unsolved...dramatic music plays in the background...

Anyway, I've got so many OC's! Thank you to all who sent one in! I will try to use them in upcoming chapters. Just a notice, the next few chapters, I have a definite place that I'm going with them, so there will be less OC's being introduced and more plot happening.

Thank you for all the reviews! You guys are amazing, and I appreciate you all so much! Virtual kisses and hugs!

 **Remained unnamed:** ***** Quickly revives ***** Thank you! I'm so glad you like this story! And thank you so much for your continued support - your drawing of Cerulean is utter perfection and I wish I could draw as well as you can! Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **jadewolf334:** Haha, I will continue to tease you with information regarding Archipelago. But hopefully, you learned a bit more about him in this chapter? I'm super happy you still continue to enjoy this story, and knowing you're enjoying these new characters is a relief. I'm hoping to write more with Chrysocolla soon. Thank you! I am beyond delighted to know you love this! I really appreciate all your support. Hope you enjoyed this update! Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **Queenyisthebestmedecin:** Okay, got it. I'm not positive as to exactly when Dolphin will appear but she definitely will, along with Gail and Typhoon. Also, that story sounds super interesting! Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **My OC Storm:** YES! So glad you liked the brief part with Storm. There's obviously a lot more in this chapter with her so I hoped you enjoy her character. Also tried to comply with your wishes regarding her and lies. I will try to include Gar in future chapters. Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **Jaysong:** I'm glad you're enjoying this story, and I apologize that Spindrift appeared only briefly in this chapter. It's likely Tsunami MIGHT appear, but don't hold me to that. I've got most of the plot figured out, and there are just a few things I'm still working with. I will definitely try to include all the FABULOUS OC's you've given me. May take a bit of time. But I promise they'll all appear at some point. I really appreciate them! Thank you for reading and reviewing!


	8. Chapter 7

I do not own Wings of Fire.

* * *

Chapter 7

The prince's room was meant to hold five dragons - Archipelago, Spindrift, Azure, Freakwave, and another brother named Cyclone who Cerulean had yet to meet - so it was a bit difficult to find enough space for all of them.

Azure, sitting in the middle of the room, anxiously began to assemble a new trap, one that, he promised, "Would definitely catch SkyWings and only SkyWings - you can hear me say the spell!" Freakwave, keen to speak his mind about everything wrong with what Azure was doing, how this wouldn't work and that wouldn't work either, took a spot on the floor next to his animus brother. Spindrift and his friend Puddle sat near the window, exchanging a heated argument that had something to do with clouds and the shrimp Puddle had eaten for dinner two weeks ago. Meanwhile, Storm and Cerulean took up residence on one of the throne-like sofas in the room, surveying the other dragonets.

Cerulean couldn't help but be amazed. Here she was, in a room with other dragonets, dragonets about her age - and she didn't feel left out. She actually felt wanted, needed, loved. She had, what, five friends, Eddy, Storm, and, she hoped, Azure and Spindrift, and Freakwave, and maybe several more, if she could count Archipelago, Chrysocolla, and Puddle as her friends. It was more acquaintances than she'd ever hoped to have.

And even though she'd known all of them for less than a day, she felt somehow connected to them. She felt like they were somehow important in her life, and that she'd need them in her future. They were all different dragons, with various personalities and preferences, but somehow, they were all the same.

The room was not quiet. It was filled with the gentle hum of conversation from the various dragonets. Storm seemed to deem the environment safe to speak in, and turning to Cerulean, her grey-blue eyes sparkling with curiosity, she said, "I don't understand."

"What don't you understand?" asked Cerulean, immensely confused. Because, in Cerulean's humble opinion, there were a lot of things that couldn't be understood; to list a few, why was she the chosen heir for the throne? Why was she purple and not blue or green like every other SeaWing? Why was she named Cerulean when she wasn't even that color? Why was everyone so against Archipelago? What had happened to Anemone and Auklet all those years ago? Why didn't she have gills?

"Why did that Azure's trap catch you, when it's specifically designed to catch only SkyWings?" Storm clarified.

Cerulean shrugged her shoulders, hoping the movement looked elegant and queenly. "You know," she replied, trying to sound confident in her answer, "it's like Freakwave said. Azure's spell must've been faulty or something."

Storm looked pensive. "Yeah, that might be it. But I've seen Azure do magic before - he's really good, even though he pretends not to be sometimes." She glanced at said dragon, and she, too shrugged, and Cerulean was positive that Storm's shrug had been moons better than her own.

"Maybe you should be queen instead," the purple dragonet, the future queen, blurted out all of a sudden.

Storm did a double-take, before laughing lightly. "Me? Be queen?" She shook her head fervently. "In all honestly, I have no idea how I'm a princess. My mother's so distantly related to the throne...but I mean, my mother's a princess, so what else would I be?"

"The queen," Cerulean supplied.

"No, no," Storm denied. "I can't imagine ruling an entire kingdom. And besides, I'd have to be a princess first, before I could be queen. Anyway, that's not important! You're the heir! You'll be our queen someday."

"I'm not sure if I ever could rule as well as Orca does," Cerulean admitted. "She's so sure, so confident in her abilities."

"And so are you," Storm said encouragingly.

"But I'm not...special," Cerulean began, and then added, "not in the way Orca is. I'm not an animus."

"Every queen is different," Storm replied, "and every queen will make mistakes, Cerulean. That's expected. And it's also in the future." The princess adjusted herself so she was turning to face Cerulean directly, instead of gazing intently at Azure as he constructed his new trap. "Right now, we've got a mystery to deal with."

"Um, the SkyWing thing?" asked Cerulean, wondering why Storm was so intrigued by the happenings in the hallway earlier.

The other nodded fervently. "I know, I know, it seems minor, but I feel like it's important. I suppose I feel like everything's important...but if I don't figure out what went wrong with that trap, then I'm going to feel like a lousy detective."

"So you're into solving mysteries?"

Storm nodded enthusiastically again. "Oh yes. My latest project has been figuring out who murdered Princess Anemone and Auklet six years ago, and it's so fascinating to learn about, and to try to put clues together to find the culprit. Although, I'm no closer than anyone else - you know, the last group of dragons to attempt to solve the murder mystery framed Prince Turtle."

"Yes, I remember that," Cerulean agreed. The whole thing with Turtle and murder had been a huge deal three years ago, and the news flew all over the Sea Kingdom, so far that even Cerulean, in her hut living with her twenty-seven siblings and her parents and everyone else, had heard about it. And she'd heard about Turtle's trial, his imprisonment, and his impending execution that had never happened. Now, he was locked up on some remote island, far out at sea, his own tribe scared and hateful of him. As a show of power, Orca had removed Turtle's animus's powers to ensure that he remained powerless.

"Well, can you imagine," Storm began, sounding extremely excited and dramatic as she whispered, "that I don't believe Prince Turtle is at all guilty of committing those murders?" She drew herself up. "I've gone into the Royal Files - top secret archives that only the privileged get to lay eyes on - " at these words, she looked immensely smug - "and I've done endless amounts of research, and all the clues and information lead up to not Turtle. So I think he's been framed, somehow."

"And you've talked to him?" asked Cerulean, hushed as well.

Storm lost her momentum as she slumped backwards onto the couch. "Well, no, not really."

The heir shrugged. "That's interesting, I guess. I mean, there wasn't really any clues as to what killed the princesses."

The other perked up. "Oh yes, none at all, other than a bit of narwhal tusk that was lodged in Anemone's throat. So I'm positive they were killed with animus magic - it has to be that. Otherwise, the killer was _extremely_ skilled, so quiet and quick to strike, and able to leave no trace of the deed behind. Well, other than the blood. And the bodies. And - "

"Urgh," Cerulean moaned in disgust. "I didn't need to know that.

"Sorry," Storm said in an embarrassed tone. "My point is, yes, I love solving mysteries, and yes, I want to figure out why you got swept up by a trap that was meant for a SkyWing. Honestly, why Azure set the trap there of all places is beyond me, but I tell you, that dragonet is so scared of SkyWings, he's convinced that everyone must be one. _Never mind_ the fact that we're in the middle of the Sea Kingdom."

"He seems nice," Cerulean said with a shrug. "A bit nervous, though." _But I'm nervous too,_ she added silently. _And he's an animus. I'd be worried too, if I was an animus._

"So about the trap," Storm started, but was interrupted by the bedroom door slamming open.

The dragon Cerulean had been thinking about for the longest time came flying in, his scales glowing nervously as he closed the door with another bang and sat there, gulping in gasps of air.

All of the dragons stared at Archipelago.

"Um, h-hey everyone," he gasped out. "Wow. I did not expect so many dragons to be here."

"Hey, Archie!" Freakwave chirped from his place on the floor next to Azure. "There you are."

"Your girlfriend is looking for you, by the way," Spindrift added, smirking. Puddle laughed as if this comment were utterly hilarious. "You're bad at this, aren't you? You've been keeping her waiting for ages."

Cerulean felt her scales heat up from embarrassment. _I'm not his girlfriend!_ she thought rather heatedly. _We just met. I just wanted to know what was up with him._

"G-girlfriend?" Archipelago's voice sounded high and totally confused.

"Yeah, your girlfriend." Freakwave too was smirking. "You know, the future queen?"

Archipelago finally looked at Cerulean. "Oh," he managed, still heaving to catch his breath. "Um, hi. What are you doing here? I thought you'd be with the queen, you know...doing queenly stuff."

"No, actually," Cerulean replied, trying to sound casual and not super excited at having finally found Archipelago again. There were so many things she needed to know about him, so many things she wanted to ask him -

 _Why do I care so much about him?_ she wondered. _I've known him less than a day. And yet..._ just like she'd felt earlier in this room, sitting with so many dragonets who were actually willing to give her a chance...she felt like Archipelago was important to her future as well. _And like Storm said, if I didn't figure out his history, and why dragons can't talk about why they're so afraid of him, then I'm going to feel like a lousy detective. Not that I ever was any kind of detective._

Storm shot her a significant look. "Hey, Archie," she said. "Who've you been running from? Waterfall on your tail again?"

Archipelago's gaze flickered away from Cerulean and fixed onto the other princess. "Um, no actually. Not Waterfall, precisely, more like Bala, actually. She's so nice, but she's so loyal..."

"To Gail," snorted Freakwave. "She has a crush on him, or something."

Azure wrinkled his snout. "Gail's got Typhoon and Dolphin. She doesn't have a chance with him. I doubt it. Bala's excitable, but she's not stupid."

"It was a close one," Archipelago muttered.

Storm looked at him sympathetically. "When will they stop all this animus nonsense? Isn't it clear you aren't one?"

The prince slumped. "Until they catch me, they won't."

"Then why don't you let them catch you?" asked Cerulean. "I mean, is there really any point in running away all the time? What harm will come of it, if you aren't an animus dragon?"

There was an exchange of looks, looks filled with extreme doubt and confusion, and looks that made Cerulean want to run away and hide in a deep ocean trench - she could do that now, with her necklace from Orca.

"I'm not an animus dragon," Archipelago repeated as if this were something brand new to him.

"Y-yes," Cerulean nodded. "That's correct, isn't it?"

A frown lit up Storm's snout. "That's odd," she said. "It's like...it's like I don't know why he shouldn't just let himself be caught. It's like it's only logical that Archipelago should be scared to be tested. It's just...that's how it's always been."

"The queen ordered it," Puddle added. "Right? She didn't want Archipelago to be tested, so he's following her orders."

 _Something's off about this, too,_ Cerulean thought, squinting her eyes critically at a very uncomfortable-looking Archipelago. _Everything that involves him seems to be a mystery - something no one can explain. But why? If he isn't an animus dragon, he should just get the animus test over with. He could prove them all wrong._

And yet...

In several strides, Cerulean, having risen from the sofa next to Storm, had crossed the length of the bedroom and stood next to Archipelago, who almost seemed to flinch away from her. She felt the gazes of the other dragonets burning into her, and she felt incredibly nervous being the center of attention. Trying to summon up her queen courage, she asked in a wobbling voice, "You aren't an animus dragon?"

"I mean, I don't think so," Archipelago replied, his voice wobbling just as much. "I've never done anything remotely magical, other than inspire fear in everyone."

 _He isn't an animus dragon,_ Cerulean thought, and without warning she snatched up one of his talons, his scales grating against hers as she held on firmly, even as he attempted to draw away (and even as Freakwave said, "Sure, she's totally not his girlfriend."). It was almost like an electric spark lit up in Cerulean's brain as a humming sensation, like a jolt of lightening, shot up her spine. _He isn't an animus, so then why, when I touch his scales, do I feel the same sensation as when I touch Orca's scales? Why can I feel magic?_

He must be hiding something. He must really be an animus dragon.

So how to trick him into revealing his secret?

Feeling a bit more confident, Cerulean turned to look at the only known animus dragon in the room; Azure.

"Azure," she said, and waited for him to look up from his contraption. He had been the only one not paying attention, intent on designing a new SkyWing trap. "When you cast magic, how do you do it? What do you say? The queen just commands objects - but is that really how it's done? You don't think anything else?"

The animus looked hesitant, fiddling with his claws. "Well, yes, you command something. Some more powerful animus dragons can mentally cast spells, but I'm not that...I'm not that strong yet. It would be like - well," he stopped, and then looked around a bit before picking up a scroll nearby. "Well," he continued, aware that he had attention on him now, and clearly, like Cerulean, nervous about it. "If I were to enchant this scroll to read aloud to me, I would just say, scroll, read your contents aloud for me, clearly and at a pace that I can understand, and stop when I tell you to."

Immediately the scroll began to drone, " _Dragonets of Destiny: A History. Long ago there was a prophecy delivered by a NightWing named Morrowseer that prophecied the end of the terrible bloody war that had raged for so long and taken so many lives..."_

"Stop," Azure commanded. He turned to look at Cerulean, looking confused. "Yeah. Like that. That's all."

"Thank you," she replied graciously, turning to the prince whose talons she still held fast to. "Archipelago, don't run away from me. Let's do our own animus testing, right here, right now."

There was some nervous shifting around the room; even Storm looked uncomfortable, for some reason.

"What?" Cerulean asked the room at large. "Why is everyone so scared of him? What's he done?"

"It's not that," Puddle supplied from Spindrift's side. "It's just...against the queen's orders."

Cerulean drew herself up. "I am the heir to the throne," she said, trying to sound like she was, indeed, the future queen. "And I say that we are going to test him, here and now."

"Okay," Storm agreed. "Let's do it. But if he really is an animus dragon, then we won't say a word to anyone. What happens in here, stays in here."

There was a murmur of consent, and then a very surprised Archipelago found himself in the midst of the animus test that he'd been avoiding for so long.

"I guess I get no say in this?" he managed to say, perhaps intending to joke, but he sounded beyond nervous.

 _He_ must _be an animus dragon,_ Cerulean thought surely. _There's no other explanation for his behavior._

"Do we ever get a say in anything?" Spindrift deadpanned. He and Puddle had walked away from the window and now stood, like all the other dragonets around a table, where Azure had positioned another scroll and was preparing to tell Archipelago what to do.

"All you have to say," Azure instructed, sounding unusually calm and collected, his talons still, "is, 'I enchant this scroll to float up to the ceiling and come back down.'"

The scroll did as commanded, and Azure looked embarrassed. "Oops. Sorry. I do that sometimes...but my soul's safe," he added, displaying the necklace around his neck that held his animus magic. "Anyway...your turn, Archipelago."

Archipelago seemed not to hear.

"You heard him," Cerulean spoke up. She was excited. The humming sound, the thrum she associated with Orca and animus magic, was growing louder, stronger. Surely, that must mean some magic was going to occur. The prince blinked at her, as if only now realizing that she was speaking to him. "Archipelago, say it. Say, 'I enchant this scroll to float up to the ceiling and come back down.'"

"Um," he said. "Okay. I enchant - "

Puddle and Storm let out identical cries of shock at the exact same time, and the dragonets stared, wide-eyed, as the scroll calmly drifted off the table. The words of the spell hadn't left Archipelago's mouth, and nothing made sense anymore.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Well, I'm hoping that was a dramatic ending. Sorry about not posting earlier. I meant to update Sunday but obviously I didn't.

I really appreciate all the comments and feedback! It really motivates me to keep writing. Thank you all so much!

 **jadewolf334:** Thank you! I'm glad you like Cerulean! And I agree, I love Spindrift. I may have said that before, but I don't remember so I'll just say it again. Haha, I'm glad you also liked Cerulean's queenly voice. Too bad it didn't make much of an appearance in this chapter...it's okay to like Storm, though! I really love writing for her, and my favorite part in this chapter was probably when she was nerding out about solving mysteries. Hopefully, you've learned just a _little_ bit more about Archipelago. I'm not sure how the end of the chapter came off regarding him. I'm definitely going to ease off on the introduction of OC's. I've gotten all of the major characters, although it's good to know that you enjoyed meeting new dragons! Thank you! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and look forward to your next update! Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **Queeny:** I am so honored that you would ask me to write your story! I would definitely be interested in writing a story like that. Currently, I do not have lots of extra time on my hands - or talons, because I'm obviously a dragon - but if you'd send me a PM (check my profile page and then the Send PM thing there) and tell me some of the details, I'll definitely consider writing your story! Thank you for asking! And thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **Jaysong:** To start off, I really appreciate all your support! Secondly, it's good to know you enjoyed the last chapter. Thirdly, I think Tsunami might show up at some point, but, if she does, I will make sure to explain that she's not interested in ruling the kingdom. Or you know, something else might happen. Hmm, can't say what though. I love that you love this story, and am infinitely glad to know that! I, unfortunately, have valiantly tried to come up with an updating date, and am so far failing epically. I wanted it to be Sunday, but that failed for this week. But if I do start to regularly update, I'll let you know for sure! I'm super glad you like Spindrift and are enjoying the interactions between Storm and Cerulean. Super glad you enjoyed Cerulean's queen voice and good to know you like your other characters, and sorry there hasn't been a lot of Waterfall. Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **Hamburger:** Thank you! That's a huge compliment, and I'm super happy to know you're enjoying this story! Aw, thanks! And your welcome, and I say thanks again or all your kind words. I will defintely try to finish this story, as I enjoy writing it immensely! And for Pelican, I will definitely try to include your OC! Could you just give me a bit more about him/her? Please and thank you! Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **Dragonflame1380:** Thanks for the OC! I included a mention of Bala in this chapter, and will try to add her more. I'm trying not to do too much more with new characters until Part Two, but I appreciate the contribution nonetheless. Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **Pancake Unicorn:** I hope you had fun on your vacation! So glad you love the story! It means a lot. Yeah, you're not the only one who feels like there were a lot of intros to new characters so I'm going to back off a bit on those. But I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! And I'm als o glad that you enjoyed the new characters. Haha, there's a lot of new information now, and I'll try to include more with Spindrift and a Tetra. Thanks! Hmm, Cerulean a SkyWing? That's an interesting thought, but really I can't say much. Glad you found this intriguing, and I hope this chapter was just as interesting. And I'm sorry to say that I currently have no updating schedule. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

 **Someone:** You are doing the opposite of annoying me! Honestly, I'm not sure what the antonym of annoy is but seriously! I am so thrilled that you like this! I hoped you fixed your computer. And thank you, I really appreciate the compliment! And I'm glad you love Azure. I have a feeling he's going to be pretty important, too. I'm super relieved that you're okay with his kind of nervous attitude. I say this with a lot of characters, but I really love Azure! He makes me happy for some reason...and he'll warm up to Cerulean for sure. Aw, thanks! You're are amazing' and I really appreciate your feedback. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! And I unfortunately currently have no updating schedule but I'll let you know when and if I do get one! It's more like I write when I can seeing as I'm pretty busy. I appreciate your support so much! Thanks for reading and reviewing!

 **Celestialskyfire: I** love your name, by the way. And yes, Orca is, isn't she? I'm waggling my eyebrows at you in that way people do when something is up, if you know what I mean. And thanks! I will definitely keep writing. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

 **Nany Ruiz/My OC Storm:** Okay, I will try to include that in my story! I'm open to suggestions regarding your character and will likely use them as long as they don't interfere with the plot. And I'm glad you liked the last chapter! No problem, Storm is fun to write and I love writing for her - especially in this chapter when she spoke about solving mysteries. I'll also try to include that personality trait! Really glad you enjoy this! Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **BrightMind** : Hey! I'm glad to know you're enjoying this so far! And that is a huge compliment! So thank you so much! I appreciate you writing a review - and I'm so honored that you think so! A million thank you's would not cover my appreciation for all your compliments! I love Archipelago too - although I say that with all of them, but choosing my favorite character is like a mother choosing a favorite kid. Yes, I definitely agree that Archipelago and Cerulean need each other. And hmm, that is an interesting thought about Cerulean...I can't say anything, so you'll have to wait to find out if you're right or not...I hope this chapter didn't disappoint! I really appreciate all your kindness and support. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

If there are any errors in this chapter, let me know and fix I will!


	9. Chapter 8

I do not own Wings of Fire.

* * *

Chapter 8

The way the scroll settled back on the table was much too calm and smug, if a scroll could be considered smug. But considering the chaos Cerulean sensed was about to ensue, it looked far too satisfied with itself.

She wasn't sure what she herself was thinking. Her mind was whirling with unintelligible thoughts, disconnected and random, without any real meaning.

 _Archipelago is an animus. He must be. But he didn't finish the spell. But that would mean. And I'm. And that can't be. Because. Because he's an animus. Has to be. Must be. I am not an animus. Azure is an animus. What is happening?_

"What - but," stuttered Archipelago. His glowing scales lit up, before fading away slowly. "I'm not an animus." He shook his head in denial, as if to prove his point. "I can't be."

Freakwave flicked his tail. "Seems pretty obvious to me that you are."

"But - I've tried," Archipelago protested. "I have tried to cast spells before. They've never worked. Why would it be different now? So I can't be an animus dragon."

Storm turned away from the table with the scroll, her gaze flickering over Cerulean with reserved curiosity before moving past her. "Azure," she said to the only known animus, who looked just as confused as Cerulean felt, "did you cast a nonverbal spell?"

The subject of her question frantically shook his head. "No, no, I assure you. I didn't say anything, or think anything. I told you, I'm not nearly powerful enough to actually cast spells with my mind."

"Say the spell, Archipelago," Puddle interrupted. She'd settled her eyes on Cerulean, and though the heir had only viewed Spindrift's friend as carefree, joking, and amusing, much like Spindrift himself, she was surprised to see Puddle looking so serious and thoughtful.

"What?" Archipelago asked, and Cerulean felt momentarily frustrated with his slowness.

"I – I," Cerulean started, wanting to instruct him to do as Puddle said. But her earlier certainty had vanished. She was no longer sure that Archipelago truly was an animus.

 _But I felt the magic in him,_ she thought, her mind less scattered than before, but nonetheless still confused. _He wields magic of some sort – so if he's not an animus, then what could he possibly be? And if he's not the one that cast the spell…then who is?_

It dawned on her then, as Archipelago spoke, his voice shaking, "I enchant this scroll to soar to the ceiling and come back down on this table."

Nothing happened, but Cerulean, now that she understood, wasn't surprised in the slightest. Even though she felt embarrassed by all the stares she was now receiving from Puddle, Storm, and Spindrift (Freakwave was still oblivious), she was no longer confused.

"You're not an animus," she said quietly, looking Archipelago in the eye. He looked a bit disappointed, staring at the scroll as if he was trying to will it to do as he commanded.

"Yeah," he agreed. "I knew that. We all knew that."

"Actually," Freakwave interrupted, "we didn't know that, and I'm still convinced Archipelago's an animus. Like, I secret animus. Like a ninja."

Spindrift snorted, but he shook his head. "No. Cerulean - you're - did you know?"

"No," Cerulean replied honestly. It was strange. Suddenly everything made sense, but at the same time everything was different.

And she had to be certain this time – no confusion in who actually cast the spell.

"I enchant this scroll to soar to the ceiling and come back down to this table," she ordered, quoting Archipelago's earlier spell. There was barely time to catch her breath in anticipation; the scroll was already rushing to do as commanded.

Perhaps she'd expected some dramatic gasp of surprise, because Cerulean was both relieved and unsettled at the silence that filled the room. Even Freakwave and Spindrift seemed at a loss for words.

"So, an animus," Puddle stated, not looking the least bit shocked. The others exchanged looks, their expressions unreadable. "I take it this is a surprise."

"Definitely a surprise," Cerulean agreed, her voice catching in her throat.

"I like surprises," Spindrift mumbled. "When they're good surprises. Like a surprise party, where everyone jumps out and yells 'SURPRISE' at the top of their lungs and then you're like, 'whoa! Where did all these dragons come from! I am totally surprised!' Like that."

"I don't get it," Cerulean spoke over Spindrift. "I'm...I can't be an animus. Azure, are you _sure_ you didn't do anything?"

Azure shook his head. "Why would I do that? What could I possibly gain by convincing others you were an animus dragon?"

Her stomach was sinking even before he uttered these words. Of course she knew he was telling the truth. She'd known that she truly was an animus the moment she'd said the spell this time.

"And it's not totally impossible, you being an animus," added Storm, studying her talons instead of looking at Cerulean. "You're related to the royal family, and we all know they carry animus blood."

"I just don't understand, though," Cerulean persisted. "I'm...I'm just Cerulean. Just Cerulean. I can't be anything special."

Freakwave snorted. "Come on! You're the hair to the throne, for ocean's sake. Of course you're special!"

"So long as I'm not the animus," Archipelago muttered under his breath. Then he looked up, catching her eye, and gave her a nervous smile. "No, but really. It's great that you're an animus. You're even more qualified for the throne. And, um, I'm sure Mother would be very proud. We should tell her, she'll be thrilled – "

"No," Cerulean cut across sharply, her voice oddly cold. The others looked at her, curious, some gazes filled with lingering shock, others with unappealing pity. Even Storm looked up to fix her blue-gray eyes on Cerulean, unreadable, her earlier friendliness evaporated.

"What do you mean, no?" the other princess asked. "It's our duty to tell the queen. She wants to know about her subjects."

"I said no," Cerulean repeated. "And I mean it. What happened to the 'everything that happens in this room stays in this room' part? Only minutes ago you were determined to protect Archipelago from everyone should he happen to be an animus dragon. What's different with me?"

"Nothing," Puddle interrupted quickly.

"Well, no," Storm corrected. "It's just…Archipelago's a prince, and you're…well, you're going to be…"

 _The queen someday._ Storm's unfinished sentence hung in the air.

"So?" asked Cerulean, feeling uncertain, which she hated. _The queen someday. I'm going to be queen! So start acting like you're ready to rule the kingdom!_

"So...so maybe the current queen can start training you with your magic," Puddle suggested kindly.

Spindrift sniffed. "Or, you could be boring like Azure and put your magic in a boring necklace so that anyone can wear it and use it."

"That's my line," Freakwave complained. "I'm supposed to annoy Azure by telling him about his idiotic choices."

"It wasn't an idiotic choice! Not everybody can use it!" Azure defended himself angrily. "I specifically enchanted the necklace so that - "

"Blah, blah, blah, we get it," Freakwave and Spindrift said at the same time, giving each other a funny look.

And with that, the brothers turned away from the table, bantering good-naturedly. Azure tagged along, shooting one last confused and slightly apologetic look at Cerulean, before he attempted to break up his brothers.

Suddenly it was if nothing had just happened. Storm returned to the couch, lost in thought. Puddle looked contemplatively at Cerulean, opened her mouth as if she intended to say something, and then abruptly whirled around and disappeared after Spindrift.

"Well, you were right," Cerulean said softly, turning to Archipelago, who was the only one still standing with her. There was a lump in her throat; she felt like she was on the verge of tears, and she wasn't sure why. She wasn't sure if she had a reason to feel like crying. _I'm an animus,_ she thought, but she felt neither horrified nor joyful and knowing this. And it felt like because she carried magic in her talons, the others no longer wanted to be her friend. _But that's silly,_ she reprimanded herself, _Azure's an animus too, and everyone gets along just fine with him – even Freakwave, who just likes to tease him._

She did understand _why_ she was an animus. That humming that had started with her arrival to the palace, that had surrounded her like a second skin finally made sense; it wasn't because of the animus jewels that Orca had given her. It was, of course, because she actually _was_ an animus. Fine. That all added up. But Archipelago wasn't an animus, and yet he carried the same animus aura as she did; so the question was: if he wasn't an animus, then what was he? And _how_ was Cerulean an animus? For some odd reason, she felt that she hadn't inherited the magic trait; it would be too perfect, too coincidental that she, the deformed and disappointing dragonet of the family, had been born with animus magic.

"I'm not sure if it's a good thing, though," Archipelago replied to her statement, sounding sullen.

"I thought you didn't want to be an animus dragon," Cerulean said.

"Well, you don't really get to choose to be one," came the reply. The prince looked at his talons, which were shaking. "I know I'm not an animus. I knew before this, even. I'm not going to pretend that I didn't try to enchant objects when I was alone, just to see what would happen. Didn't you? How come you never figured out your powers before?"

That was the other part. Cerulean, like all the dragonets in her large family, had gone through a phase where she'd been convinced that she was an animus. She'd order inanimate objects to do ridiculous things: telling a teapot to dance, or the bedsheets to sing (did they have mouths? Could they actually do that? She could find out now.), or asking the dishes to wash themselves when she was stuck with that chore. Of course, nothing had happened, or she would've known about her powers before.

So why now, here, with a watching audience, did they manifest?

"I did," Cerulean replied cautiously. "But perhaps I was being too nice. Didn't something similar happen to Prince Fathom during his animus testing? He was too polite to the coconut he needed to enchant, so nothing happened until he ordered it?"

Archipelago flicked his tail thoughtfully. "I, um, do recall something like that in History Class. But it's hard to pay attention and focus in that class – Baja teaches it, and she gets off topic a lot."

"Like you," Cerulean replied. "And you don't know why you were so convinced that nobody could find out you were an animus?"

He looked her right in the eye, which scared her a lot, because he looked so serious.

"I swear, I have no idea," was his reply. "It's like…the reason is in my mind, but there's a fuzzy cloud surrounding it."

Cerulean narrowed her eyes. "Sounds like animus magic."

Archipelago nodded in agreement. "But I don't know why Waterfall, Mother, or Azure would ever do something like that."

"So maybe there's another animus dragon, one we don't yet know about," Cerulean said.

"Maybe," he agreed.

Storm approached them now. "Sorry if I came off a bit rude earlier," she said brusquely. "I've very intrigued with these new turn of events! This calls for an intense research session. I'm off to the library for a bit of research, and then I'll be back when I find something.

She swept majestically from the room.

Cerulean's attention returned quickly to Archipelago. "And can you tell me anything, anything at all, about whatever happened two years ago that's so scandalous and that everyone has conveniently forgotten about?"

He shrugged. "I could. But I'm not supposed to. And, well…it's, uh…It's kind of embarrassing and private, and in all honestly I really don't want to talk about it. Maybe it's better everyone's forgotten."

She huffed in annoyance, and then decided that a visit to the library sounded like a good idea, so she made to move out of the room, although she doubted her exit would be anywhere as magnificent as Storm's had been.

"Where're you off to?" called Spindrift from across the room.

"The library, like Storm," she replied. "Come on, Archipelago."

"Oh, me?" asked the prince. "Is the queen back yet? Because otherwise everyone's still hunting me down."

"I don't know," Cerulean replied, but was glad when he followed her; he could easily have refused to come, and there would've been nothing she could've done.

"Ah, sweet love," came Freakwave's sarcastic comment as the door shut. "They make a cute couple."

"They're not dating, you idiot," Puddle's sardonic voice responded.

Cerulean didn't know what to think of this exchange, so she settled for politely annoyed.

The two walked in silence. She allowed Archipelago to lead the way, because she still didn't know how to find her way around the castle, and didn't want to get lost.

At last, they reached the main hallway, which Cerulean recognized. Chrysocolla, the maid, rushed up to them in a hurried fashion.

"Your Majesties!" she cried. "Come, hurry. Tsunami's arrived at the Palace. Cerulean, it's time you met your honorary sister, I think?"

 _Tsunami._ The SeaWing dragonet of destiny. Everyone knew about her. She was famous in the Sea Kingdom and all of Pyrrhia.

Cerulean would've loved to meet her, to ask about Tsunami's life experiences, ask if Tsunami ever intended to challenge for the throne, but importantly, ask about Anemone and Auklet and if Tsunami knew of their demise, and how it had happened (and ask about how Orca could be alive, and the statue from years ago that had killed the female dragonets...) but now was such an inconvenient time. Everything seemed to be happening at once.

"Not now," Cerulean decided. "Archipelago and I - we're on a mission." _Wow,_ she chided herself. _'On a mission.' Could you be any cheesier?_

"On a mission?" Chrysocolla echoed. She smirked. "Sounds important. Well, Tsunami's not going anywhere soon. But I thought you'd be ecstatic to meet her. So I went to find you."

"And I appreciate that," Cerulean assured the maid, giving her a shy smile. "But...what we're doing is important. There's been an unexpected - well, slightly unexpected - I guess, I don't know, it was shocking but not all that shocking - "

"Are you going to get to the point?" asked the maid.

"She means to say that there's been a turn of events," Archipelago supplied, giving Chrysocolla a shrug. "Something that nobody really understands, so we're going to do research. Exciting."

"Can I help?" asked Chrysocolla. "Not with the research - I hate that - but with anything else?"

Cerulean and Archipelago exchanged looks.

"What do you know about animus dragons?"

* * *

Chrysocolla was not an animus. Not that Cerulean had thought she was. But the maid, eager to be helpful, provided them with a long myth that she'd been told as a young dragonet, involving and animus dragon, a walrus, seven scrolls, and a game of hide and seek.

"And that," the maid concluded this wild fantasy, "is why we've always been told that animus dragons are bad."

Cerulean and Archipelago exchanged puzzled looks.

"Okay then," Archipelago ventured. "Now, can you tell us anything actually, you know, useful?"

Chrysocolla looked crestfallen. "I'm sorry!" she exclaimed. "I'm a terrible storyteller."

"No, it's not that," Cerulean reassured her. "It's just...that doesn't sound at all accurate."

"I guess it was only a myth," the maid agreed. "But I believed it with all of my heart for the first few years of my life. Now, Your Majesty," she said to Cerulean, "you were saying that you too are an animus?"

The purple dragonet nodded.

"Interesting," Chrysocolla said. She looked around. She, Cerulean, Archipelago, and Storm (who was buried amongst a huge pile of scrolls, reading furiously) were situated in the library, tucked away in a corner. So far, their researching expedition had gone unnoticed, but that was mostly because Orca had returned from the Deep Palace and was too busy with important queenly things that Cerulean wasn't old enough to understand yet to find her heir.

"And you're sure you're an animus?" the maid asked.

"Yes," both Archipelago and Cerulean said at the same time. Immediately, the princess felt a bit embarrassed, but pressed on. "We're positive."

"Can I see?" Chrysocolla asked, her voice very eager. "Oh - wait. You're soul. I forgot what happens when animus dragons cast magic - "

"Actually," Archipelago interrupted, "it's been, um, speculated that animus magic may actually not destroy the soul..." he trailed off, clearing his throat nervously, clearly unsure whether he should continue.

"Ooh, yes," Storm's voice joined the conversation. "I saw that! It's a fascinating theory, actually! It basically states that it's only a dragon's belief that their soul is destroyed through casting spells that causes them to feel as cold, as though they've lost a piece of their soul."

"But that can't be," Cerulean protested. "Everyone knows about Albatross. He was the first SeaWing animus that we know of, so he couldn't have known he'd lose his soul, because there was no one to tell him that."

"That's an exception," Storm agreed.

"Unless, he was, well, already evil," Archipelago pointed out.

"So, animus magic please?" begged Chrysocolla. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be asking you, but if it's safe, then I'd love to see some! I haven't before."

"We think it's safe," Archipelago mumbled. "We're not sure if that theory is actually correct."

"Well, we'll be extra careful to not waste any of Cerulean's precious soul," Storm said, discarding her scroll. Her voice was stoic, and Cerulean couldn't tell if the princess was being sarcastic or scathing or serious. "If we're going to see some magic, we might as well make it a worthwhile spell."

"Like what?" Cerulean asked. She flexed her claws almost unconsciously, nervously. Her mind streamed with all the possibilities - she'd been so caught up with the logistics of her being an animus dragon that it hadn't even occurred to her what she could do with all her newly discovered power. Now, she thought of the few enchantments she'd heard Orca say; her orca necklace, the armband, the earring she wore in her ear that let the queen find her should she get lost, and to symbolize her royal status, an armband around her left forearm, whose enchantment she didn't actually know. Plus, the narwhal tusk door handle that had murdered the guards in the Deep Palace, a rather cold and cruel act on Orca's part...plus, she knew the queen had also enchanted the sword and the staff.

Now that Cerulean reflected and really thought about it, Orca had lied. She'd cast a lot of spells - perhaps minor ones, but many nonetheless. Cerulean hoped the animus soul theory that Archipelago and Storm had talked about briefly was true, because was starting to fear the Orca had no soul left after all.

The others, too, seemed to be thinking. Chrysocolla, having never seen an animus spell before and didn't know what it could do, suggested simple things, like cleaning up the library, or making the table fall over and get back up all on its own, spells similar to the one that had revealed Cerulean's power. Archipelago and Storm, on the other hand, were trying to come up with something beneficial.

"Perhaps a scroll that will tell you what you need to know?" Naturally, after barely a moment's thought, Storm spewed out a suggestion, her eyes alight with the thought of unlimited knowledge.

 _That would be nice,_ Cerulean thought. _Then I could figure out who I am, what I'm doing as the queen's_ _heir, what happened to Anemone and Auklet, if Orca's going to be okay, what's up with Archipelago...I'd basically be creating a sea of knowledge!_

"That sounds cool," Archipelago agreed. "But I'm pretty sure we already have a few of those, right?"

Storm shrugged. "Yeah, but I can't get my talons on them because the queen keeps them under such close watch, only letting those she deems worthy enough actually use them. And because I'm a no-good princess who can't ever inherit the throne, I'm not worthy. So if Cerulean created one, we could use it secretly."

"Maybe," Cerulean agreed. But the idea of the scroll, as good as it was, didn't seem like the right thing. Not if there were similar scrolls in existence.

"What about a mirror that shows the user whatever he or she wants to see?" Archipelago suggested.

"Don't the SandWings have something like that already?" asked Cerulean, trying to recall the unit about SandWings she'd done a long time ago in school at her old home.

"Maybe not, then," Archipelago agreed. "I think I do remember something like that."

"We want it to be a unique, creative spell," Storm added, as if nobody already knew that.

"Ooh, how about something that turns a dragon into whatever they want, as long as they're touching it?" Chrysocolla suggested eagerly. It had been the first interesting idea she'd had so far, in terms of complexity and usefulness for a spell.

"So, like, if they wanted to be a table, a dragon could turn into a table?" asked Storm, snorting in amusement.

The maid bristled. "Hey! There might be dragons who dream about being a table! You don't know! It's not fair to judge! Personally, I've always wanted to be a feather duster."

Storm appeared to be trying very hard to keep a straight face, but ended up bursting into laughter.

"Excuse me!" Chrysocolla snapped. "I do not appreciate your mocking of my dreams!"

"You - you have a s-sad dr-dream then," Storm said between hiccuping giggles. "A f-feather d-duster? Seriously?"

The maid huffed, looking down at her snout at the hysterically laughing dragonet. "Maybe I'm secretly a feather duster, for all you know! Maybe that's who I truly am!"

"That's it!" Cerulean said, having an extremely pleasant AHA! moment. She clapped her talons together. "Chrysocolla, that's a brilliant idea!"

"See?" the dragon stuck her tongue out at the still-laughing Storm in a very child-like manner. "Her Majesty realizes what a genius I am and agrees."

Storm rolled her eyes. "A pure genius. A feather duster. You want to be a feather duster. I can't believe it. Cerulean, please don't tell me you agree with her."

"But it's a great idea," Cerulean said, barely listening. "I mean, I don't think it's been done before, so it'll be something new, and it might answer a question I have, so I'm definitely thinking..."

"What is it?" asked Archipelago.

Searching for something that would be a good object to enchant, Cerulean replied triumphantly, "Something to that will reveal a dragon's history, reveal who they truly are."

"AHA!" Storm yelped, looking very smug. "So you didn't actually agree with the feather duster's idea, just something she said."

"I am not a feather duster!" came Chrysocolla's indignant reply.

"I thought you wanted to be one, though," Storm said, looking at the angry dragon with wide, innocent eyes.

"Please don't fight again," Archipelago pleaded. "You did that last week, and the week before that, and the week before that. You always end up fighting."

"Well, if Storm wasn't always so smug and annoying - "

"I'm smug and annoying? Says the dragon who constantly bugs everyone with her bad sense of humor!"

"I've got a great sense of humor. You just don't appreciate it!"

"Yeah, yeah. You don't even call Cerulean Cerulean, you call her 'Your Majesty' like some pompous frog, so if anyone's smug it's you."

"I'm being PROPER and POLITE, a term you seem to be unfamiliar with!"

"Shh," Cerulean reprimanded them. "I've found what I'm going to enchant." She held up a glass paperweight that she'd found on a shelf, holding down various assortments of important and boring looking documents.

All three of the others blinked at her.

"Well then," Storm said. "I guess you're not supposed to wear it."

"Obviously," Chrysocolla agreed.

"Do you have the words for the spell?" Archipelago asked, his normally quieter voice raised in excitement, which both surprised and delighted Cerulean.

Her heart was beating in her chest, exhilarated with the prospect of casting magic - not a spell to send a scroll to the roof and back down, but an actual enchantment. Whatever this stone told her regarding Archipelago's history would hopefully explain so much of the mystery surrounding the prince and the palace. And she could also find out about Anemone and Auklet, and Orca's history too, how the queen was still alive.

She cleared her throat, and immediately Chrysocolla and Storm, who'd been bickering quietly, hushed, fixing their eyes on Cerulean and the paperweight with quiet anticipation.

"I enchant this paperweight to reveal the history of any dragon or object the user desires," Cerulean said, her voice low and rhythmic as if she were singing a song. "I enchant this paperweight to answer any question the user has, to the best of its ability." She paused, wracking her brain, trying to think of any other spell to add to her current enchantment. When she came up with nothing, she did not continue, instead gazing down at the paperweight.

She wasn't sure if it actually worked. The glass surface gleamed unremarkably, transparent like the glass it was made of, and its weight remained the same in her talons.

 _Did it work?_ she wondered. _Or did I mess it up? It should've worked. I did it right, I think. But who am I to know a lot about casting animus spells?_

"Was it successful, do you think?" Cerulean asked, finally looking up from the object. She was surprised by the look of pure shock on all three faces. "Um. Everything okay? Should we test it?"

Both Storm and Chrysocolla said nothing, simply exchanging looks that were beyond confusion and shock. It was Archipelago who spoke.

"I - I don't think we really need to..."

"Hmm?" Cerulean asked, confused, glancing down curiously again at the paperweight. Nothing had changed about its appearance, and she couldn't imagine why there was no need to test it. "What do you mean?"

"Look at your talons..." Archipelago said, his voice low.

Cerulean did. And she saw why, and she knew her spell had been successful. More than successful, actually.

Her talons were no longer purple. They were shaking, the talons too long and sharp, clutching desperately onto the thing that had revealed their true nature, bright red like the sinking sun, or the blood from a wound.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Sorry for the late update. I originally tried writing a frantic chapter so I could update sooner, but then I decided that there was no purpose to it, and that it wasn't quality. I'd rather write good stuff, not just update to update, if you know what I mean, so I hope you don't mind.

A couple of things regarding this chapter. First off, I'm sorry that Spindrift, Freakwave, Azure, and Puddle sort of took a backseat - and to all of you who have graciously given me an OC of yours to use, I also apologize for not introducing them/bringing them back yet. This chapter had a definite starting and ending point, and as you can tell, it's longer than usual, and I didn't have time to introduce/bring back characters. But luckily, this is the end of part one, and I'm thinking that there will be opportunity for more introductions in the next part! Thank you for understanding, and I hope it isn't a problem.

Secondly, I hope all of this was written both realistically and convincingly. I like the second half of the story, but for some reason I feel dissatisfied with the first half of the story, in the prince's room, and I don't know why. I've gone over it multiple times, and I can't think of anything to change, but I just don't like it. Oh well. If inspiration strikes me with a better version, I will update this chapter and change some things.

Third, I would like to comment on part of the chapter, regarding the animus soul theory. This is not a real thing, at least that I am aware of. However, after reading the last book (no spoilers) I kind of wondered if animus magic really does cause a dragon to lose their soul, or if it's just the belief that causes animus dragons to feel like they are losing it. I'm not sure if this is actually what Tui T. Sutherland was going for, but it was an interesting theory that I had, so I incorporated this in the book, and I may explore this later on. I'm not sure. So just to clear up confusion, if there is any, the animus soul theory is not a real thing.

Fourth, thank you so much for all the amazing feedback! It's always so thrilling to see that I've gotten a review, follow, or favorite. I appreciate all the support!

 **Remained unnamed:** Good! I'm glad the last chapter was suspenseful! No problem, I love Freakwave. And yes, I saw Cerulean, and she is FABULOUS! I'm going to post the link to the drawing in the next chapter, because this one is so long. Thank you! I appreciate your support SO MUCH that my gratitude cannot be expressed in the English language. Maybe Russian or French though? Parles-tu Français? Anyway, thanks! I'm just amazing, aren't I? ;) I will definitely keep this up. You have my infinite support as well! Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **Jaysong:** Glad you liked that ending! I'm also glad you liked Spindrift and Puddle's character, and apologies that they weren't featured much in this chapter...but I'll try to do more with them later! And duh duh duh...Tsunami's arrived! Although her arrival also took a backseat...that was me setting up for future chapters. Hahahahaha. I'm so happy you liked that chapter, and sorry that there wasn't much regarding Archipelago's history...I'm debating whether or not to have a reveal regarding who he is in this story, or if I should do a sequel from his point of view. Whaddaya think? And thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **Queenyisthebestmedicen:** Yes, I saw it! Although you probably know that. I'm hoping to start writing a draft for the first chapter soon, but I'm not sure when I'll actually be able to publish your fanfiction idea, which is amazing by the way. And about Cerulean, you might just be right! ;) Thank you for reading and reviewing.

 **Pancake Unicorn:** MWAHAHA! I am evil, and that is how I did this. I'm glad you liked it, even if you're annoyed. I hope you also know more now. You're right, Cerulean's an animus, but you probably know that by now. I'm sorry about no updating schedule; I was thinking of trying to come up to one, but I'm afraid I won't stick to it, and I also don't really write well when pressured...but I'm flattered to know that you check this story constantly for updates! Haha, dat's cool. :D And you're totally cool! And the Bahamas sounds sweet! I've never been there. Haha, not Dolphin. What would your SkyWing name be? And thanks for the compliment! I'm glad to know you like this! Thank you for reading and reviewing.

 **Someone:** Thank you! I'm sorry that there isn't an updating schedule, but know that I generally will try to update this once a week at least, because I love writing this when I can! School gets in the way, and sometimes I'll sit down with the intention to write a chapter and then have absolutely no inspiration, even though I know where I want to go. But I'm glad you think this is amazing! That's really flattering, and appreciate the compliment so much! Hmm, my secret...MWAHAHA, you shall never know! Actually, I really don't know. And thanks for another OC! I think there will be a part with other tribes later in the story, so if Cerulean ever encounters a NightWing during this, then I will definitely use Happenstance! Thanks! Aw, your welcome, and thank you! I love to respond to reviews - it makes me so happy to communicate with my awesome readers, like you! It's really amazing, as well, to know that people enjoy this! And your welcome, and thanks again! The internet memes are after you...MERCI BEAUCOUP, for all your support and for reading and reviewing!

 **Hamburger:** Thanks! I'm glad you're still enjoying this! Regarding Pelican, thank you for the information! And sorry about not coming up with a backstory. I like letting people come up with a bit about their OC, and then, based on the information they give me, to create a character from there. Expect to see Pelican in future chapters, and thank you for reading and reviewing! I appreciate it a lot.

 **Firestar is OP:** Hi! Thank you! I'm glad you like this, and that the prologue hooked you! I will definitely continue! Thank you, I'm really flattered. And maybe I'm secretly a professional. Like, a ninja writer. I don't know. But sadly I'm not. :( I have to say, I do like Firestar more when he was a 'paw and a warrior. Anyway...thank you for reading and reviewing! Bye!

 **xXSilverdreamXx:** Thank you! MWAHAHA! I love cliffhangers...when I'm the one who's written them. I am so sorry that I have not done much with Wave! However, I'm going to bring Eddy back into this, and since he and Wave are acquaintances, I will MAKE SURE SHE APPEARS AGAIN BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO DISAPPOINT YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE AMAZING. No problem. Ooh, Archipelago Turtle? That's a very interesting speculation! Hmm, hmm, hmm...honestly that did not occur to me until now but I kind of want that to be true...thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **dragonwritergirl112:** Sure! I will try to include Swift Current (I love her name) into the story. No guarantees on when, but hopefully she'll show up. I'll also try to include the part with her egg and being a SkyWing. And interesting theory about Cerulean...and about Cerulean, you might just be right! I can't say...MWAHAHA. Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **MystycDragon:** I am beyond thrilled to know that you like this story and think it's awesome! Also, it's great to know that the mystery is good. Thank you for the applause. I definitely agree with what you say, though, about fanfictions. I will definitely take that advice to heart. Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **MysticFire101:** Not making sense is my special suite! But I promise, this story will all work out in the end...hopefully. Don't tell anyone I said that. I'm glad you think it's awesome, though! I'm flattered by your compliment; it means a lot! About Cerulean, you might just be right! I can't say...you'll have to find out more details...MWAHAHA. I've been laughing evilly a lot lately. I'm glad you love it, and thank you for saying so! I know where I'm going with Orca's character, but I'm battling with her personality in the future, but I'm glad you like her characterization so far. I will explain how she's alive too. You'll also find out about Anemone and Auklet soon! Also, I'm going to do a character catch up with Tsunami in part two, regarding what happened with her life after the events of Jade Mountain. I'm glad you like Storm and Cerulean! I say this with basically every character, but I love writing Storm's scenes. Of all the OC's, she's the one I find I'm using the most, along with Chrysocolla. Yes! My mystery attempt has been successful! I'm glad to know that! Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **BrightMind:** Did this chapter answer questions regarding the SkyWing? Or are you just as confused as before? I'm laughing evilly. I'm glad that you're happy Archipelago's back! Haha, I like Cerulean and Archipelago together too, so maybe I'll do something with that in future chapters. Cerulago - I love it! Regarding the guards and Archipelago, I'm going to address that in future chapter, so hopefully that'll be cleared up. And there is a reason Archipelago isn't an animus...OR IS THERE? Yes, animus magic is confusing. I don't know if you've read Talons of Power yet, but the limits of animus magic were really explored in that book, but there's still a lot of questions left unanswered...I'm very fascinated with the concept. Maybe that's what I should be when I grow up. An animus dragon expert. Because that's a thing. Any way, thank you for reading and reviewing!

This was over 6,000 words long! This is the longest chapter I have written for a story. I'm so proud! Although some of it was author's note, but still...


	10. Chapter 9

I do not own Wings of Fire.

* * *

 **PART TWO: WINGS OF SKY**

Chapter 9

If the world had ended and everything had gone up in flames and smoke and death, Cerulean wouldn't have noticed. If she dropped dead - well, three moons, she was already pretty sure she was.

Because there was absolutely no way that this was happening.

Nope. No way. Her talons weren't red. She suddenly didn't possess blazing copper and orange scales, her wings were certainly not larger, and the ability to breathe fire was fake too.

No. No way. She was definitely still Cerulean. She was still the weird dragonet of her family. She was still the heir to the throne. She was still in the Sea Kingdom, with her friends - maybe not for long - looking at her like they'd seen ghosts, or maybe discovered that Blister was now the queen of the SandWings, or Anemone and Auklet were still alive.

And yet, she very clearly was no longer herself - or who she'd been.

She looked up from her talons, gleaming harshly in the dim lights from the library, the paperweight she'd enchanted glinting as well, but perhaps not as brightly - she looked up, and saw that Storm had once again buried herself in scrolls, furiously scanning and dismissing each one without barely touching them.

Chrysocolla still remained with an intensely confused expression on her snout, and Archipelago looked like he might faint.

Cerulean swallowed thickly, one of her talons finding the orca necklace that was still around her neck, then finding her bracelet that kept her at the perfect temperature, and then the earring that Orca had also given her. Still the same. Therefore, she thought illogically, everything else was surely the same.

And yet.

Nope. No way. Everything was very different.

She swallowed thickly again, and then spoke - "I'm - " and then broke off again, because of course her voice had also changed with her transformation. It was no longer Cerulean-sounding; no longer weak and unsure, revealing every emotion and, in her opinion, always seconds away from cracking. No. It was...better. It was louder, stronger, less terrified, revealed less emotion...it was a voice similar to the one Orca used when addressing some dignitary who was annoying her, the voice Cerulean wanted as her queen voice.

But she wanted this voice as _her_ voice, not whatever she'd turned into. She also wanted everything to stop, because thinking of all the weirdness that had just happened and all the logic that wasn't there was making her brain hurt.

"I'm - " she tried again, wincing once more at how she sounded now, before plowing on with what she was trying to say. "I'm a SkyWing, aren't I."

It was more of a statement than a question.

"Well," Archipelago began, then looked to Chrysocolla, who very much looked like she wanted him to explain things.

"Well," she tried too, using a different tone of voice than Archipelago had used.

"Well," Archipelago repeated, sounding very agreeable.

"Well," Chrysocolla echoed, but now she sounded informative.

Perhaps they thought that they could get away with saying one word and not explaining anything as long as they just said that one word in a different way.

"I mean it," Cerulean interrupted, and winced as she saw them wince at her voice - no longer nervous or scared; now, she sounded regal and intimidating. "I'm still Cerulean. I swear on the moons that I am - it's just. Something's changed. I'm a SkyWing. I know that. Just tell me that."

"Well," Archipelago intoned, but he went on, "it appears you are. But yes, you're still Cerulean. We think. Unless you've been replaced somehow. Which it also appears you have been. But I don't understand. We heard you enchant that paperweight - we know the spell you put on it. So I mean, you did tell it to reveal history, but..."

"But you also enchanted it to answer questions to the best of the user's ability," added Chrysocolla. "Nobody asked it a question..."

"At least not verbally," Storm interrupted. "Cerulean, did you ask it a question in your mind?"

Cerulean shook her head. "No."

Again, with the voice. The old Cerulean would've sounded unsure, scared, wanting to know more about the situation. Now, she sounded almost...passive. Cold. Uncaring. Uninterested.

Storm set aside another scroll and picked up a new one in one single fluid motion, unrolling the scroll and then discarding it again. "Did you think anything of significance after you cast the spell?"

"Well...I did wonder if the spell worked," Cerulean replied, shrugging a bit. "I don't know...I've never seen animus magic before, so I guess I thought something big would happen."

"Me too," Chrysocolla added.

"You've seen Azure do magic," Storm put in. "And I'm sure that Orca's done plenty around you."

"Only for me," amended Cerulean, but realized that it was true; of course she'd seen animus magic before. "Okay, I guess I was just expecting more because it was, you know, my magic. Something of my doing."

"I guess that makes sense," Storm said, sounding like it didn't make sense at all. "I wouldn't know. I'm obviously not an animus. Any other thoughts?"

"Well, I thought I'd messed it up," Cerulean said, trying to remember what she'd been thinking, but it was hard - what she'd thought then, before she'd known that she was a SkyWing, apparently, seemed so simple and unimportant now. "And about I thought something like, 'who am I to know a lot about casting animus spells?'"

Storm abruptly slammed a scroll down on the table. "That's it," she said.

The other three just looked at each other with immense confusion on their snouts.

The princess shook her head, looking utterly exasperated with their cluelessness. "You thought a question, and the paperweight answered," she elaborated, and then, looking extremely annoyed at this point, went further, "you asked _who am I_ to the paperweight."

"Oh," Archipelago said. "I guess that makes sense. But she didn't, uh, actually ask it to the paperweight. It was just a general thought."

Storm shrugged. "The paperweight doesn't know that. It was just doing what it was supposed to. The spell worked."

"We think," Chrysocolla added. "Not that I'm sure Cerulean is incapable of correctly casting spells - it's just, I'm sure it's easy for spells to go wrong? I don't know. Like I've said, I've never seen it done before." She silenced herself, and then realized that she'd called Cerulean Cerulean and not 'Your Majesty,' so she quickly added, "I meant Your Majesty, Your Majesty - so sorry. This is so weird. She's a SkyWing. The next queen is going to be a SkyWing. How is she a SkyWing?"

"Chrysocolla's right," Cerulean said. "On two levels; first off, what if the spell did go wrong? What if the paperweight's confused? Maybe I'm really not a SkyWing and this is all some big misunderstanding."

Both Storm and Archipelago were shaking their heads.

"No," Storm spoke first. "It does make sense. It explains Azure's trap that got you today - the one designed to catch SkyWings only. He did the spell right - you were a SkyWing, but we didn't know that. In a way, that spell should've tipped us off. It figured you out before you did."

"Also," Archipelago added, "it explains your purple scales - it's like you're a cross between SkyWing and SeaWing in color, and you've also got no gills. I think I understand now - I was kind of confused as to why you were named after a shade of blue when you're purple."

"But...my family," Cerulean argued, ignoring his remark about her old and odd scale coloring. "We're all SeaWings - we've been purely SeaWing for generation. I should know."

"Well, then maybe you're not actually biologically related to your family," Storm replied. "Maybe you're egg was brought to your parents on purpose, or on accident."

"Nothing makes sense now," Cerulean sighed.

"We'll figure things out," Chrysocolla assured her. "Now, what was the second thing I was right about? I'm sure it's important or I wouldn't've said it."

"Well, how did I get to look like a SeaWing if I'm really a SeaWing?" asked Cerulean. "Am I fully a SkyWing, or am I some weird hybrid?"

"Pretty sure you're a full SkyWing," Storm said. "Here - I found a scroll regarding disguises and animus magic. I'm betting you're egg was a SkyWing egg, but something interfered - this scroll says that it is possible to enchant a dragon egg and turn the dragonet inside into a member of a different tribe. But it also adds that most dragonets don't survive that long, so it's very rare."

"Why would you do that anyway?" Chrysocolla asked, sounding horrified. "I'm so against animus magic right at this moment."

"I don't know either," Storm said agreeably. "I can't see a reason for any animus dragon to enchant a SkyWing egg, bring it to some remote island in the Sea Kingdom, and then just leave the dragonet to grow up there. Unless the dragonet was important in some way. But also, I don't think the SkyWings have any animus dragons, except for that RainWing one Scarlet hired a while back, so that would imply that an animus from another tribe stole a SkyWing egg and did that. So then I'd assume that it was a SeaWing who did that, because you ended up here, but Azure was too young when you're egg should've been incubating, and we didn't find out he was an animus until he was two, and Waterfall is always busy with other things, and she doesn't like to cast animus magic when she can avoid it. So that leaves Orca."

"And Anemone," Archipelago added.

"She was dead before then," Storm denied. "Cerulean's four - Anemone and Auklet died, what, six years ago?"

"We think," Chrysocolla added. "It's hard to remember. You both were pretty young then. If it was six years ago, I don't think you'd hatched, and if it was four, you still wouldn't've really remembered it."

"So it's another one of those things everybody knows about but nobody can remember," Cerulean mused, before realizing she'd had this thought aloud.

"Yes," Chrysocolla agreed. "Currents and sea foam, there are seem to be a lot of those. I do hope we'll figure out what that's about."

"Me too," Storm concurred, before quickly returning to thinking out loud for them all - she seemed to enjoy the stunned looks on their faces as she quickly came up with and dismissed probable causes. "But that leaves Orca, as I said. It must leave her. But then, I ask, why in Pyrrhia would Orca do something like that? I suppose she was missing for many years after we all thought she died after challenging Queen Coral - we don't know where she was during that - so in all reality, she could've gone to the Sky Kingdom and done it then, but then, chronologically, it doesn't make sense. Because she came back a good while before you were hatched, Cerulean. So no, then that couldn't be it, and besides, why would Orca choose the SkyWing dragonet she'd enchanted to be a SeaWing to rule her kingdom? Unless she has some giant scheme, but I can't imagine what she was planning. And what's the benefit of having a SkyWing-turned-SeaWing in the first place?"

Naturally, everyone just shrugged, trying to process most of the information Storm had just uttered in what seemed to be only one breath.

"So we're back at square one," Storm finished. She pushed aside scrolls, before reaching for a black one and, with some ink, dipping one of her claws and scratching a neat line of letters at the top of the scroll: **Top Suspects For All This Confusing Animus Magic.**

"Our top suspect," she said, dipping her claw back into the ink, "is probably Orca - she makes the most sense of all the SeaWing animus dragons." She scratched Orca's name underneath the first sentence, and then paused, looking at her audience with a triumphant smirk of some sort.

"What if there's another SeaWing animus?" Chrysocolla proposed.

"And what evidence is there of that?" Storm asked. She sounded a bit waspish, but Cerulean suspected she wanted genuine proof of a potentially unknown animus in the Sea Kingdom.

Chrysocolla cleared her throat, straightening up all of a sudden. "First off, as we've established, none of the _known_ animus SeaWings are obvious suspects - I'm not saying Waterfall or Orca may have played some part - but given, I do think we should be open to the possibility of a hidden animus. Secondly, there's the whole 'not remembering important stuff' part of this that Cerulean - Her Majesty - keeps bringing up, and we can't figure out why any of our known animus dragons would keep this from us."

"Okay," Storm said agreeably, and wrote 'Unknown Animus' on the paper underneath Orca's name.

"Turtle?" suggested Archipelago.

"I thought Turtle was faraway from here and no longer an animus," Chrysocolla said.

"Well, he's still an animus," Storm disagreed as she wrote the disgraced SeaWing's name down too. "He just can't do magic."

"Is he still one then?" Chrysocolla asked. "I thought having magic was what made an animus an animus."

Archipelago shifted, as if he was nervous. "Well, it's hard to say, but I think just being born with magic is what makes an animus an animus."

"We're distracting from the point," Storm intervened impatiently. "Cerulean, any ideas?"

"I know you said Anemone died before I was hatched, depending on when she actually died - " Cerulean felt a brief step of panic and annoyance that, yet again, something important had been covered up and she couldn't find out what it was - "but what if she enchanted something to do that? Like, you know, Orca's statue in the hatchery before it was discovered?"

"But Orca was alive," Chrysocolla argued, "which is how it could keep on using its power, right?"

"No," all three of the others said.

"Animus magic doesn't stop working after its owner dies," Storm explained impatiently, as if Chrysocolla was a particularly stupid dragonet.

"So, you could use a dead animus dragon's body to cast magic?" the maid asked, wrinkling her snout.

"Ew, no." Storm wrinkled her snout too, but from disgust and not from thought.

"But that just disproves your whole 'animus magic doesn't stop working' thing," Chrysocolla said. "Doesn't the dead dragon still have animus magic in them?"

"You're confusing me," Storm said in a complaining tone. "And that doesn't happen often. Be quiet so I can go back to looking smart."

"You don't look smart," the maid shot back.

Archipelago cleared his throat. "About all those memories we've all seemed to have forgotten...um, maybe Cerulean - " he shot a quick glance at the subject of which he was speaking, saw that she was still a SkyWing, and quickly looked away - "maybe she could enchant something to reverse the effect?"

"That's not a bad idea," Storm mused agreeably, having gone back to rapidly looking at and discarding scrolls, keeping the one she'd found information on animus-touched eggs close by. "Ah. Here's a handy scroll about all animus dragons in history, as well as a known record of all animus-touched artifacts." She unrolled the scroll, pouring over it. "I don't think we've got to worry about those dragons from thousands of years ago. Ooh. What about Darkstalker? What are the reasons he could've done this? Why wouldn't he have done this?"

"I literally can think of no reason he'd be interested in enchanting a SkyWing egg," Chrysocolla said almost immediately.

"Then think figuratively," Storm replied drily, earning an eye roll from the maid.

"Fine," Chrysocolla said. "Despite everything that happened with Moonwatcher and her friends all those years ago, Darkstalker decided to steal a SkyWing egg and deliver it to a remote island on the ocean for his mysterious purposes. And that is why he did that."

"Maybe something to do with Clearsight?" Archipelago suggested. "Or getting revenge on Fathom - maybe this was his weird way of getting revenge of the SeaWings - like, here's your new SeaWing queen! PSYCHE! She's actually a SkyWing."

"That would be kind of funny," Chrysocolla muttered, unable to keep a straight face.

"It definitely wouldn't be," Cerulean disagreed, looking a bit horrified.

"Okay, so fine," Storm huffed. "Perhaps Darkstalker's not an obvious suspect, but I'm going to include him anyway." She wrote down his name. "Stonemover?"

He was quickly proved to likely not have any involvement, along with any other living animus dragons, which weren't that many. Storm set aside the scroll with animus dragons, deciding to continue looking through other scrolls before perusing some of the older and now dead animus dragons for possibly enchanting a SkyWing egg and bringing it to the Sea Kingdom.

"You should help me," the princess said in a bossy tone as she once again set about looking through scrolls. So Archipelago and Chrysocolla quickly leaned in to help, and Cerulean, who realized she'd been standing, pulled up a chair, setting the paperweight down - and immediately saw her red scales melt back to purple.

She was surprised by the sudden change, even if relieved that she was now the Cerulean she knew. None of the other dragons looked even the slightest bit concerned about it - in fact, they looked like they expected it to happen as soon as Cerulean lost contact with the paperweight, and Cerulean realized that she should've expected it too, because the paperweight was only doing what it was enchanted to do.

The library descended into silence, the only sounds being the rustling of scrolls and the occasional murmur from Storm as she read, perhaps unconsciously, aloud some parts of the scrolls she was reading.

"We should ask Mother," Archipelago said, disrupting the almost trance-like silence that had engulfed the nursery like a silent fire. "Even if she doesn't know about Cerulean's secret - " again he glanced at Cerulean, nervously - "but she might be able to tell us something."

Storm and Cerulean both opened their mouths to speak at the same time, but then they were interrupted by a new voice that, although calm and unassuming, scared Cerulean to hear - everything had changed!

"Tell you what?" asked Orca, stepping up to the table.

"Um - nothing," Cerulean managed.

"I've been looking all over for you, my dear," Orca said, embracing her heir in her large blue wings. Cerulean hugged the queen back, before stepping away, examining Orca critically, wondering if the queen knew what they'd been talking about, wondering what she knew -

"Tsunami's arrived," Orca was saying. "I thought you might like to see her - what's this paperweight doing here?" she asked, indicating the innocuous looking object. "I thought it was on that shelf - I'll put it back - " She reached for it, and was utterly shocked when Chrysocolla lunged in front of her, grabbing the paperweight from right under the queen's claws.

The maid looked embarrassed. "Excuse me, Your Majesty, I know that was rude, but, um, well, you see, I am the maid around here, and I feel so mortified that something was out of place - I feel obligated to do my duty by cleaning up - you're not supposed to pick up after others - I'll just be going then." Bowing and scraping, something, Cerulean felt, Chrysocolla shouldn't ever do, the maid vanished behind a row of scrolls.

"Well, that was a bit strange," Orca commented, looking completely lost. This was also something Cerulean felt should never happen - Chrysocolla should never bow and scrape, and the queen should always know what she was doing. "Storm," the queen nodded in acknowledgement at the princess. Her snout seemed to curl again, the lost expression vanishing under thinly veiled disgust as she noted Archipelago's presence.

"Come along, Cerulean," Orca said, sweeping grandly away from the table. "We've got to talk a bit, and it's time for you to meet Tsunami."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** So, I originally intended to be cruel and make my readers wait a long time before coming out with the first chapter of part two, just for, you know, suspense purposes, and despite the fact that every single person who's read this is absolutely AMAZING and I'm just a bit mean. But then I decided that I'd be nice - and also that I was eager to get on with the next chapter - so you can thank me, of course, for making your lives better and blessing you with this chapter and everything.

Just kidding. Although I hope that seeing an update was good. Anyway, I hope nobody's overwhelmed by everything that was in this chapter - lots of information was probably just thrown at your face, so if you have any questions, please ask me and I'll answer to the best of my ability without giving anything away.

YOU GUYS ARE ALL SO AMAZING. I don't deserve you all (because I'm better). No, because you're just all so awesome. Thank you all, seriously.

Any feedback is much appreciated! I'm no longer accepting SeaWing OC's - but if I have need for anymore, I'll let you all know. Thank you!

 **nanyruiz:** Aw, thanks! When I saw your review I had the exact same reaction! I'm sorry that it takes me so long to update - it's just chapters take a while to write, and I want to give you guys quality stuff because y'all are so amazing. I will never say y'all again, and on a side note, I probably will. But I'm glad you really like this! And I promise that I will finish the fanfiction - I love writing it so much! And thank you for the compliment! Thank you! And no problem with using Storm. I like her, and I'm thankful for letting me use her. She's great. Thank you! I'm really flattered that you like this story so much! You're awesome! Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **Celestialskyfire:** Haha! Yeah, she is...OR IS SHE? It certainly seems so now...but I'm glad my plot twist was successful - some people already had guesses, but I still think it was a good cliffhanger...anyway, thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **MysticFire101:** THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! That really means a lot. Breeze. I like that name, and I like the way you described how you can just 'glide among the clouds with ease.' I'm definitely looking for a SkyWing name for Cerulean, and will definitely consider Breeze! Thanks! Haha, yes, you were right. And you're not bragging - I'm really pleased that I wasn't too obscure with my hinting in previous chapters. I'm so glad you like Storm, too! I like her too. She's super smart, and she was actually the type of character I was looking for. And thanks! I'm glad you liked the chapter too! And I think this chapter was also pretty explanatory, but hopefully not TOO explanatory, if you know what I mean. Got to keep SOME stuff under wraps. I know what you mean about cliffhangers. They're so annoying but they're so great at the same time. I catch your drift. Anyway, thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **Someone:** YAAAAAAAYYYYYY! I'm so glad you loved the ending, and here's the next chapter to postpone some waiting! I'm glad that you liked the suspense and the plot! It's also good to know that you're enjoying this story - that's great and super flattering for me to know! I definitely want to include something with Happenstance because you are absolutely AMAZING and all! I'm not sure whether that inclusion will be a brief mention of him or an actual appearance, but hopefully you can expect to see something. I will definitely keep writing! And I'm super happy you think this is great - haha, oops. I saw that after I published and I cringed and mentally cursed my knowledge of the English language. But yes, taken literally, that was a funny sentence. XD. I'll edit that out when I go through all my chapters and revise. My proof reading is terrible and shouldn't even be called proof reading. Thank you for pointing that out, and for reading and reviewing!

 **BrightMind:** Cerulago is one of my favorite ships now. Is that bad of me to say because they're my characters? And haha, I originally intended for Eddy to be Cerulean's sort of love interest, but with all the excitement, his character kind of took a back seat. I'm hoping to bring him back, and looking at it, I think I like Cerulian and Archipelago more! Now I'm trying to include brief moments between the two, but they might be few...yes, Sutherland explains quite a bit in Talons of Power, but of course, there's always stuff to interpret - that's what I love about the books. There's so much explained, but also so much to think about. I agree, animus magic is pretty god-like, so that's probably why the "losing the soul" thing comes into play. There can't be too much power without a price! And honestly, until Stonemover used his powers to turn his scales into stone instead of losing his soul, it didn't even occur to me what animus dragons could do. I almost don't like the vessel idea, where they store their magic, because there's no balance between the power and its cost, if you know what I mean. I'll explore my theory more in the story too, a bit, and also, there will be some explanations regarding the animus spells in this story.

About Cerulean and her spell: sorry for the confusion! At the same time, it is good to know I was subtle with her asking a question that would trick the paperweight into revealing her true nature. Hopefully, the explanation in this chapter helped to clear things up, but if you have any other questions, let me know. Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **Jaysong:** Me too! I'm pretty sure she'll appear in the next chapter. And no problem. I will also have someone call Spindrift Spinny. I'm sorry that both of your OC's didn't appear in this chapter, but of course, they will appear later. I'm glad you like Chrysocoll - I like her too! And your close with her name. It's really unique, and I love her. She's jadewolf334's OC. Also, I'm glad that the characters are fitting together. That was a bit of a challenge, and I'm going to add a few more, although they may not be in the story a lot. Orca finding out will be interesting on many levels. I'm not sure what the plural of animus would be...if we look at the rules of our language, then I think you'd be right saying animi, but that doesn't sound right, and English overall is a pleasantly complicated language. We'll see what Cerulean does with Orca now...I think Waterfall will also appear in the next chapter too, and I'm sorry she was only really mentioned before. I'm still figuring out her role, so if you have any other suggestions, I will take them into consideration. I love that you love this story! And thanks for the compliment - I'm beyond flattered that you think I'm an actual author. And who knows...MAYBE I AM...cue the dramatic music please. Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **Pancake Unicorn:** Haha, I get what you mean about knowing and not knowing. But I'm glad that, overall, the chapter was a surprise plot twist! Keep reading to find out how this will end...glad you find it fascinating! Ooh, I like the name Spire. I will definitely think about using her, and maybe think about her for Cerulean's SkyWing name. Tetra will likely appear in the next chapter, and I'm so sorry there hasn't been much with her. And you're not bugging me. I appreciate the reminder, in all honesty. I'm so glad yo think this is a great story, and hopefully this chapter didn't disappoint either! Thanks for reading and reviewing!

 **Remained unnamed:** Vraiment? C'est très bon que tu peut parler français aussi. Moi, mon français n'est pas très genial parce que je ne suis pas français, mais en école j'ai une classe français. Es-tu, as-tu une classe français, ou parles-tu français sans une classes? I apologize if my French is awful, but maybe you understood it. Haha, sorry. I like writing in French. It really annoys me that the links do not work...I must figure something out, but alas I fear that fanfiction is designed to discourage the posting of links. I'm so glad you liked the chapter! And thank you! I appreciate that, but popularity, while it can be nice, is not my goal. As long as people enjoy what I write, that's enough for me. There are so many amazing stories out there (including yours :D)! But thank you for the compliment! And I'm jealous of what you write too - both of your fanfictions are awesome. Tu es fabuleuse aussi! XD Merci pour lirer et écrirer, parce que je ne sais pas comment on dit review en français.

 **jadewolf334:** MWAHAHA. Yes, I believe she is. I mean, probably. I mea, I think so, but maybe she's not. Please don't die on me, though, because then I will be very sad and cease to write forever. Hopefully that is a decent threat to keep you from dying. MY WRITING CAREER IS AT STAKE. On the other hand, I'm super psyched that you like my plot twists! I'm glad you think Cerulean's awesome. I love writing for her, as with the princes and basically all the characters. Orca is probably the most difficult. I love Chrysocolla though! Thank you! I did t see a comment for the last chapter but I can check...mostly I was worried that I'd lost you :'(. I love getting your reviews, and I love responding! Here's more - hope you liked :D! Thank you for reading and reviewing!


	11. Chapter 10

I do not own Wings of Fire.

* * *

Chapter 10

"I thought I told you to stay away from Archipelago," were the first words from Orca's mouth once she and Cerulean had exited the library, leaving Cerulean's friends behind.

The mahogany doors closed with a muffled thump as the two set off down the hallway.

Cerulean felt a rush of worry and annoyance. She glanced down at her claws to make sure they were, indeed, purple, and not red like she kept imagining them to be.

"I don't see why not," she whispered. She didn't feel quite capable of speaking loudly. Her head swirled with tons of new information and speculations and theories.

Orca frowned deeply. "I've told you all my reasons. Now, care to explain what you were doing, hidden away in the back of the library with a maid, a useless princess, and my incompetent son?"

Now Cerulean was the one frowning. "The maid has a name, Storm is not useless at all, and Archipelago is not as incompetent as you might think he is." Her voice was still low, scared almost. She was Cerulean again now, had Cerulean's voice. The intimidating and queenly SkyWing voice she'd momentarily possessed had disappeared as soon as she'd released the paperweight.

The queen looked surprised - Cerulean felt a bit too, which was difficult, because she'd spent the last few hours feeling one shock after another. "Don't talk back to me in that tone," she bit off. "I chose you to be my queen for reasons."

"And those would be?" Cerulean asked. This was something she'd always wondered about, but now she was curious about Orca's true motives for choosing the purple dragonet as her heir. And now, she felt a brave enough to actually dare to ask.

 _If Orca cast the spell that turned my SkyWing egg into a SeaWing one,_ Cerulean thought, _then surely the queen would already know about my heritage, which means she would've knowingly chosen an originally SkyWing dragonet to be the next ruler, which means she must have her reasons. She wouldn't tell me, but perhaps, she'll let something slip...?_

Cerulean felt a bit surprised to realize that her feelings towards the queen had shifted since the last time she'd seen Orca. She was no longer filled with a shy, quiet respect and awe at Orca. Perhaps the animus magic is what made the queen seem so intimidating to Cerulean, but now that Cerulean knew that she, herself, was one, there was nothing so magical (no pun intended) about Orca's powers.

And even if she wasn't sure about whether or not Orca had done anything, she couldn't help but feel decently suspicious of the queen. A brief memory flashed back, of the queen ordering the narwhal tusk door handles to kill the guards who'd failed to stop the egg assassin, without a second thought.

Cerulean tuned back into Orca, who was looking very thoughtful and hadn't answered Cerulean's question yet.

"I have many reasons," she spoke at last. She seemed to realize that Cerulean was expecting an example. "You, of all your sisters, were clearly the most qualified."

"But - " Cerulean started nervously. Her voice cracked, and she cleared her throat. "But, you came right to our village and you asked for me. You never had met my sisters or me before. How could you have known?"

Orca shook her head in exasperation, as if Cerulean was stupid and incompetent, which was probably true. "Your parents told me, of course."

"But - " Cerulean began again, and saw the severe silencing look Orca sent her way, and finished the question in her head. _But Delta and Fen didn't like me. They didn't think I was qualified to read a scroll or do anything useful. Why would they suddenly decide that I was good enough to be queen?_

Something tickled the back of her mind. _Unless they wanted to get rid of me. But letting me be the next queen seems awfully odd of them, when they could easily dispose of me some other way. So then that would mean Orca was lying, which means she either lied to me and got information that somehow convinced her to make me the next queen, or...she really did enchant my egg._

But then that brought up another question. If Orca did enchant her egg, then when did she do it? Delta and Fen had been so excited when the queen showed up to chose her heir; not only because one of their daughters might someday be queen, but also because Orca had never, ever visited the island. So if Orca had never been there before, then how could she have ever gotten her talons on Cerulean's egg?

 _Unless she disguised herself and snuck in,_ Cerulean supplied. _But that seems awfully illogical and useless. And then, why would my parents take in a SkyWing egg? They clearly never knew I was a SkyWing. They just hated me because I was purple and didn't have gills and was 'useless.' So then the animus dragon must've left my egg with Delta and Fen, who thought it was theirs, so clearly they never thought otherwise because they always wondered how their daughter had turned out so weird. But I had a brother, who hatched the same time I did. So that lined up._

She glanced at Orca, who was speaking to Gail, the head guard, and Typhoon, about their daughter Dolphin.

 _Perhaps she enchanted my egg while she was still believed to be dead. But she returned seven years ago - three years before I was born. So then if that were true, I'd be seven, and not four, so the timing just doesn't add up correctly._

"Tsunami's looking forward to meeting you."

Cerulean blinked, realizing that she was being spoken to again. "Oh."

The queen regarded her curiously. "I thought you'd be more excited to hear that."

"Oh yes," Cerulean said, remembering the time when meeting Tsunami would've been thrilling. But now there was so much excitement in her life; she didn't want to meet her "sister" when she could be sitting in the library with her friends, speculating and figuring things out.

"Your Majesty," a guard spoke up. They'd arrived now at the feasting hall, where Tsunami was waiting inside along with Riptide, her husband, and an entourage of noble dragons.

The guard was Wave, Eddy's friend. She remained stoic as she pulled open the large and heavy doors, and Cerulean found herself envying the ease of the older dragonet's strength.

Then Eddy was at her side, and she felt a wave a relief wash over her scales when she saw his friendly face. She always felt soothed when she saw him, but this time, she no longer felt as close as she had around him before. He didn't know about her true identity. He didn't know what she knew.

She should tell him. He'd been such a good friend to her, all this time. He deserved to know.

Obviously, right now was not a good time, because there were so many dragons around them, possibly listening, and definitely watching her out of the corner of their , by her side, took the liberty to point out many of the guards and royal guests who stood around the feasting hall, and every now and then, Wave, who'd followed Cerulean and the queen inside after closing the doors, would break her seemingly emotionless mask to chime in with some funny remark about the said dragon.

Orca, meanwhile, had slipped ahead of Cerulean, Eddy, and Wave, and was talking to an aquamarine and cyan dragon with lighter horns, a dragon who kept fidgeting and looking around, distracted, before the queen regained her attention.

"That's Baja," Eddy reported, nodding with a friendly smile at the constantly moving dragon.

"Definitely is," Wave quipped. "She's only a few years older than we are, but from the way she acts, you'd think she was only a newly hatched dragonet!"

This statement seemed very true, for, at that moment, Baja knocked into one of the many dragons carrying plates of food, knocking the delicacies out of the poor unsuspecting waiter's talons and sending the food flying everywhere. Baja, meanwhile, went tripping to the ground and landed roughly on top of the waiter, scrambling frantically for footing.

Wave and Eddy stifled their laughs, while Cerulean looked on skeptically and tried to remember back to breakfast that morning, when she hadn't even known Spindrift and all the royal dragons had seemed so calm and put together. With a start, she realized she was starving and had skipped lunch.

"Oops!" came Baja's cheerful and apologetic voice from the floor. "I'm soooooo sorry. I didn't see you there - let me help - apologies, condolences! Ooh, those do look good, though." She popped some of the food that had fallen in the floor in her collision into her mouth. "Mm. Octopus. My favorite."

Orca and the other dragon who'd been talking with her and Baja, both frowned down on the teacher who'd just fallen spectacularly.

"Oh my seashells, Baja," said the other dragon who Cerulean didn't know, an older dragoness with scales such a light shade of blue they were almost white. She narrowed her yellow-green eyes at the other, as Baja scrambled up to get off the floor, popping another handful of food into her mouth. The unfortunate waiter hurried to clean everything up.

"I'm sorry," Baja apologized profusely. "I was so busy talking to Her Majesty! Ugh, I'm so embarrassed. Couldn't you use your animus magic and make it so that that never actually happened?"

As the older dragon replied severely, and Orca swept ahead of the two with an exasperated shake of her head, Cerulean narrowed her eyes. _So that must be Waterfall, the only animus dragon I haven't met yet._

Eddy confirmed this. "That's Waterfall, the one chewing Baja out."

"Honestly, don't know why Waterfall bothers lecturing her," Wave added with a smile at Cerulean, a friendly gesture that caught the purple dragonet off guard. "Everything's in one ear and out the other with Baja. She's awfully sweet, though. And I'm not sure if you know, but Waterfall's one of our animus dragons."

"Yes," Cerulean said with a curt nod, not taking her eyes off of the older animus dragon's form. She was curious about Waterfall, the dragon who was interested in whether or not Archipelago was an animus dragon or not, and she needed to find out if, perhaps, Waterfall was the dragon behind all these strange spells that restricted everyone's memories. This dragon was the one, of the three known animus dragons, that Cerulean knew the least well right now. She needed to find out why, if she truly was the culprit, Waterfall would possibly ever cast such a spell.

It also occurred to her that maybe Eddy and Wave knew of other animus dragons in the kingdom.

"How many other animus dragons are there in the Sea Kingdom?" Cerulean asked.

"Let's see," Eddy said. "There's Her Majesty, Queen Orca, as you already know." He eyed the jewelry adornments she was wearing. "And there's Prince Azure - I'm not sure if you've met him? He's Prince Archipelago's brother."

"Yes," Cerulean admitted to being acquainted to Azure, and felt something twist in her gut as she said this. She didn't know why, but she felt bad admitting she had friends now other than Eddy. And that these friends, though she'd known them less than a day, already knew more about her than Eddy, who'd been her friend for month, did.

Eddy nodded.

"Any others?" Cerulean pressed.

The two guards exchanged a brief look, and if Cerulean hadn't been watching so carefully, she would've just thought it was nothing, just a quick glance. But no, the look they'd just shared had lots of meaning to it, and Cerulean didn't like not knowing what the meaning was; she didn't even like not knowing why there was meaning.

"And of course there's Waterfall," Wave continued carefully. She glanced at Cerulean as if she expected the princess to interrupt, and when the purple dragonet didn't, the guard pressed on. "But I hardly think she should count anymore. She can't have cast a spell for centuries, at least."

Eddy snorted. "Wave, she's hardly twenty years old."

"Hmph," Wave said. "She looks ancient."

"Don't speak of your superiors that way," Eddy reprimanded in a mocking way, but his voice turned serious. "Really, Wave. We're only guards-in-training. This could be one of our tests. We don't know who could be listening to this conversation."

"I am," said a new voice, and both Wave and Eddy leaped about a foot into the air. They turned to see a foamy green dragonet who couldn't've been much older than Eddy or Cerulean.

"Gar, you nearly gave us a heart attack," Wave reprimanded severely.

"Sorry. I just wanted to let you guys know that we've been called for duty - Gail wants us down at the castle entrance," Gar said, sounding a bit nervous. He saw Cerulean now. "Hi, I'm Gar. You must be a new recruit. I haven't seen you before."

"I'm Cerulean," the heir replied.

"She's not a recruit, though," Eddy put in. "Gar, this is Princess Cerulean. The next queen."

"Oh my moons!" Gar yelped loudly. "I'm so sorry, Your Majesty." He bowed to the ground, so low that his snout brushed the floor.

"Please don't do that," Cerulean begged, mortified.

Gar now stood up so quickly he nearly overbalanced. "I'm so sorry, so, so sorry, Your Majesty. Oh, what a horrible impression I must be making on you. I'm so honored to be talking to you, I'm not worthy of this, I'm not - "

"Calm down, Gar," Wave sighed in exasperation. "I think you should get some fresh air. You seem a bit faint. I'll go with you."

"No, no, I'm okay," the younger guard-in-training protested. "It was so nice to meet you! I'm so sorry - " he added when he realized there was no point in arguing with Wave.

"Same to you, and you don't need to apologize!" Cerulean called after him, feeling sympathy for Gar. For the first time, she'd actually run into someone who was a lot more nervous than she was. She turned back to Eddy, who was scanning the feasting hall and all of the guests with an alert eye. "So, Waterfall, Azure, and Orca. Those are they only SeaWing animus dragons?"

Eddy flicked his tail, his eyes still roaming over all the eating dragons. "Well," he said at last. "There is another one that I know of."

"Who?" asked Cerulean, very curious of the fact that he was suddenly avoiding her gaze and speaking so lowly when just a few moments ago he'd been rather loudly telling her all of the animus dragons in the kingdom.

Her friend glanced around, looking nervous. "I don't think this is the place to tell you."

"That's okay," Cerulean said understandingly. She took a breath. This was more than good, really. There was a new possibility, another animus dragon who they could go to, who might be responsible for the strange fog that coated so many important memories. And, if they planning on meeting up later so he could tell her some of his secrets, than this would be the perfect opportunity for her to tell her what she'd found out about herself as well. "Eddy, I have to tell you a few things too...can we meet in the library later tonight?"

Eddy looked uneasy. "I have guard training until really late. I'm not sure if I actually can."

"It doesn't have to be tonight, then. Maybe tomorrow?"

"Tell you what," Eddy decided. "I'll have Chrysocolla - I think we can both agree that she can be trusted?"

"For sure," Cerulean agreed, thinking of the way the maid had leapt in to stop Orca from picking up the enchanted paperweight, and how trusting she'd been about keeping Cerulean's SkyWing secret.

"Well, I'll give her a note then, later tonight, telling you when I can meet," Eddy finished.

"Okay," Cerulean nodded.

"I've got to go now," he added, sounding uncomfortable. "Wave and Gar and Gail will be expecting me. Gail will probably want me to lead the practice."

"I understand," she assured him, even though she really didn't.

"You know, late night training and all that, the joys of being a guard, et cetera," Eddy elaborated.

"Why are you a guard, if you don't like it? Why did they choose you?" Cerulean asked.

He shrugged. "I wish I knew, Cerulean. I mean, Your Majesty. Just in case anyone is listening, you know, that's the only reason I'm addressing you so formally. See you around. Have fun meeting Tsunami."

"Bye," Cerulean called after him as he disappeared into the crowd of guards, waiters, and party-goers. Then the princess turned away from where he'd gone and now scanned the room for Orca, or someone who looked like how she'd always imagined Tsunami to look like; brave, fierce, determined.

"There you are, my dear," came a voice from her right, and with some relief Cerulean turned to see the queen. At the same time, the purple dragonet wished she was not in the feasting hall, and that she'd slipped from the room after Eddy and gone back to the library or gone to the princes' room.

Now, she was stuck meeting Tsunami. Not that that was a bad thing. It just didn't seem necessary right at that moment - couldn't Tsunami have come a few days earlier, before everything had happened?

"Cerulean, please meet Tsunami," Orca said, an almost sinister smile appearing on her snout. "Tsunami, meet the future queen of the Sea Kingdom, my heir, Cerulean."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I'M SO SORRY THAT THIS UPDATE WAS LATE. And I don't have an excuse, either, so this was just my laziness. DON'T KILL ME. I WILL TRY TO UPDATE SOONER NEXT TIME. And by the way, I'm shooting to make Fridays my updating day, but no promises on that actually always happening.

THANK YOU TO ALL THE AWESOME PEOPLE WHO READ THIS. I HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER!

Also, more OC's got introduced. They probably won't play as big as a role as some of the others, because there are a lot of characters running around at the moment, but I will try to use them. And thank you for submitting them! I really appreciate it. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Any feedback is much appreciated!

 **MysticFire101:** Your welcome! I will probably end up using Breeze should I need a name for Cerulean as a SkyWing! And it does fit her. I agree! I'm glad...well, not glad exactly, like, weirdly glad, that you found Cerulean's distress at her voice change so heart-breaking. You know? Like, I'm glad that you felt that way, but I feel like it's weird to take joy in someone's heartbreak. You know? Okay, sorry, that was random, but I'm glad that that you thought it was awesome! Thank you! Also, I'm so happy you liked how Storm, Chrysocolla, and Archipelago reacted. It took me a while to get that scene; at first, I had them all get really upset and kind of desert Cerulean, but then looking back on their characters, I was thinking, first off, that's just mean, and secondly, I don't think they would actually do that...I agree with what you said about Tsunami. She's coming up in the next chapter! I hope you'll like how I portrayed her. It is a different timeline, seven years after the events of Darkness of Dragons. THANK YOU! I'M GLAD YOU THINK THIS IS AMAZING! That is a very flattering compliment, and I appreciate it so much! Hope you liked this chapter! Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **jadewolf334:** THANK YOU! I'm so glad you loved this. That means a lot. I agree, I love the SkyWing tribe. If I were a dragon, I'd probably want to be a SkyWing. Or an IceWing. Or a RainWing. Haha, it is kind of weird to think of Cerulean as a SkyWing, but she's staying as her SeaWing self for the time being. I LOVE PLOT TWISTS. Both writing them and reading them. I admit that reading plot twists is more fun because you normally don't see them coming and you kind of think, _whoa, I didn't see that one coming and the author had better have a good explanation for this._ Writing them, I find, is harder, because you want the plot twist to be something completely unexpected, but also you kind of want to hint that it's coming, but not too much, and then you also actually have to have an explanation for why what happened is possible. But they do drive me crazy, no matter what! Aha! You sighed! That must mean your still alive - good, I see you are. Thank you for not dying, and you are AWESOME TOO. Seriously. Your awesomeness motivates me all the time, and thanks! No problem, I can't believe I didn't follow and favorite you before. And this chapter was EDDY time! I'm trying to bring him in more, I kind of killed him off before. Oops. Sorry about that. Hmm, maybe he and Cerulean would be better goether? I'm not sure. :) But there was more Eddy this time. I will try to portray Archipelago as a stronger character; right now, I was aiming for more of an inconspicuous dragon, but I'll probably spice him up a bit. You'll learn more about him, too, along with Eddy! YAY! I'm so glad you like Chrysocolla! That is important, and thanks! And I would never have had her character if not for you! So thank you! Glad you liked the chapter, and here's another! Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **dragonwritergirl112:** XD. Yup. Cerulean and those mysteries. They keep multiplying. Hopefully, I'll be able to tie them up nicely at the end. Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **Remained unnamed:** Oh. Je suis désolé. Haha, though, I relate. Every time my French teacher starts rapidly speaking to me in French, I kind of just blink at her stupidly and say, "Oui," while wishing that could actually decently speak the language. My accent is horrible. Glad you found this chapter interesting, though! Thanks! Your stories are awesome though! You're an excellent writer, and your skills of art, man...I'm jealous. Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **Guest:** Yay! Glad you don't think my proofreading is bad! Every now and then, I'll come across a stupid mistake and I'll be like, "Oh my god, seriously self." Glad that's the only mistake you've encounter, though! When I finish this up, I'll probably go through every chapter and make sure that everything's correct. Aw, thanks! It means so much that you love this story so much - I love you for reading it! Yes! I'm so happy you liked this chapter! And I hoped you liked this chapter, too. I'm already working on the next one! Your welcome, and thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **Someone:** Thank you! I'm glad you don't think my proofreading is horrible, and I'll try not to be so hard on myself. Thank you, I'm so glad that you are loving this story, and think the grammar and spelling is good! It drives me crazy when a fanfiction has such a good concept but the writing is so bad you can't focus on the actual plot. Thanks! I'm glad you thought it was an amazing chapter! Hopefully, you liked this chapter too! I'm already working on the next one, so hopefully you won't have too wait too long again! Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **Hamburger:** Yay! I'm so glad you loved the last chapter! I'm also glad you liked the simile I used. You can definitely use that in your writing! Just make sure not to call a library 'the nursery' like I did. I didn't catch that while writing OR proofreading and then published it and realized that I called the library a nursery and stared at it for about an hour willing the word to change. Oops. I'm glad you like my descriptions, and think that the story is flowing nicely! I hope you liked this chapter, and I'm working on the next one! MWAHAHA. THE SUSPENSE. Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **Pancake Unicorn:** Thanks! Glad you liked the last chapter. And also, I'm super happy that you're liking the characters! That's always so exciting to hear! Yes! Excitement and mystery and intrigue is good, right? Here's another update, and hopefully the next one will be a lot sooner than this one was! Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **Jaysong:** HAHA! YES, IT APPEARS SHE IS! Wait, no explosion of brains allowed - are you okay? This wasn't supposed to KILL anybody! MAYBE THIS CHAPTER UN-EXPLODED YOUR BRAIN, I HOPE. I'M GLAD YOU'RE EXCITED THOUGH. And you're okay, you don't need to apologize! I'm really glad you liked this chapter and are still liking Chrysocolla (don't worry about misspelling her name!) and that you like Storm more - sorry that they both didn't appear in this chapter. And don't worry, you've said lots of important stuff in your review, and really the fact that you're taking the time to leave your thoughts means a lot to me! Tiredness happens to everybody...I'm really tired right now, actually, and I ramble all the time...hence the state of the last chapter, where it was basically one theory after another. XD. I have heard of Hamilton, but I haven't listened to it - a lot of my friends really like it, and one of them actually writes lyrics on her desk from it every day in math. I'm sorry, though, that I actually haven't listened to it. Anyway. SEE YOU NEXT CHAPTER TOO! HOPE YOU LIKED! AND HAPPY (late) VALENTINE'S DAY TO YOU TOO! Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **BrightMind:** Well, I'm glad the last chapter wasn't confusing, but I'm so sorry that it was random and an information overload! :( I will try not to do that again. Yes, I agree, this does resemble my mind as well. People think I'm crazy because often I will mutter angrily to myself and then reply in an equally angry voice. I'm sorry that you found the middle of the chapter a bit short of pointless; luckily, I suspect that the last chapter will be the only one with all that speculation; I'll probably stick to Cerulean's musings. I really hope I didn't lose you on the last chapter though! I'm so sorry if I disappointed you. Yes, you're right about animus magic, and how it's almost cheating to cast something to protect your soul, assuming the theory isn't correct. In addition to an object to tell her why she is a SkyWing, I was also thinking through it and wondering if Cerulean could also just enchant something to clear away the fog in everyone's minds and discover what was up with those memories, as well as find out if there are any other animus dragons in the kingdom or what Orca's motives are. But that would result in a boring story, and I'll probably cover something about the "limitations" of animus magic. Thank you for your honest opinon, and for reading and reviewing!


	12. Chapter 11

I do not own Wings of Fire.

* * *

Chapter 11

Tsunami was considerably larger than Cerulean and seven years older than her as well. Her scales were a deep cobalt blue, like the calm surface of an ocean underneath a night sky, and her eyes were a translucent green, and not as startlingly bright as her sister Orca's were. She had a fierce and determined aura to her that didn't match the rather calm and surprisingly placid look on her snout.

She examined Cerulean in a way that a fighter examined her opponent before engaging in battle; critically, assessing Cerulean's potential strengths and weaknesses, as well as noting her size, her color, and the way the heir was carrying herself. It made Cerulean feel very uncomfortable to be assessed in such a way, so she settled for watching the way Tsunami's glowing scales gleamed in the light of the feasting hall, spirals and starburst patterns, waiting for the older dragon to say the first words.

"Hello, Cerulean," Tsunami spoke at last. Cerulean was surprised at how mature and serious her not-really-sister sounded. From the myriads of scrolls she had read about the dragonets of destiny, Tsunami had always been described as the 'fiercely protective, brave, loyal, and impulsive' dragonet. So seeing her so...quiet and almost sophisticated was a bit weird, and Cerulean found herself hastily adjusting her expectations of the famous SeaWing.

"H-hi, Tsunami," Cerulean replied, and was proud that she actually had managed to talk when suddenly she felt so nervous. Yes, she was definitely wishing that she was back in the library with Storm and Chrysocolla and Archipelago, trying to figure out her SkyWing origins and about potential unknown SeaWing animus dragons.

"I had a brother named Cerulean," Tsunami commented. Next to her, her older sister, the queen, seemed to shift a bit at these words, like she wanted to interrupt and comment on the male Cerulean or just felt uncomfortable at his mention, but Orca stayed quiet. Instead, she fixed her eyes intently on the orca necklace around Cerulean's neck as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.

"O-oh really?" Cerulean stuttered. "Was he nice?"

Tsunami shrugged her shoulders up and down, managing to look elegant, which once again surprised Cerulean. "I'm sorry to say that I never really got to know him, before his unfortunate accident."

"An a-accident?" Cerulean asked. _Another royal dragon bites the dust,_ she thought in her head. _But surely, this time, it's nothing more than a coincidence, and the other Cerulean's death is completely unrelated to anything._

"Oh yes," Tsunami said agreeably. "It was a couple of years ago, not too long after my other, ah, sisters met their own deaths."

Orca shifted, definitely looking on edge this time. "Now, now," the queen said, sounding very disapproving. "This is supposed to be a happy meeting. No talking about deaths now. Those have passed. Come, come, let's go sit down. We can eat, and you two can get to know each other better."

Tsunami tipped her head. "Of course," she said agreeably. Then, while Orca swept away majestically, towards the head of the feasting table, the SeaWing dragonet of destiny narrowed her eyes after her sister.

"What accident happened to Cerulean?" asked the princess Cerulean once she and Tsunami were seated across from each other. Immediately Orca, who was sitting to Cerulean's right at the head of the table, grew disapproving.

"Cerulean, I said we're moving on from that subject," Orca said icily.

"It's alright, Orca," Tsunami interrupted. "Cerulean can ask me whatever she wants. I get it," she added, this time to Cerulean. "Isn't it so frustrating when older dragons just REFUSE to tell YOU ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING USEFUL?" At this raising of her voice, a few dragons around them glared and made hushing noises, and Orca sighed and shook her head, rubbing her temples as if Tsunami was giving her a headache.

"Shh, Tsunami, don't yell," Orca scolded.

"WHY NOT?"

"I'm so sorry, Cerulean," the queen went on, as if Tsunami hadn't just shouted. "Tsunami was supposed to be a role model for you."

"You were asking," Tsunami now cut across Orca, looking to Cerulean.

"Yes, about the accident with your brother," the heir tried, feeling very nervous, as both Tsunami and Orca were sending rather murderous looks at each other.

"No, we're not talking about that," the queen said for what seemed to be the umpteenth time.

"If Cerulean wants - "

"Yes, please," Cerulean agreed.

And then suddenly the strangest feeling settled over her. Suddenly, she no longer cared about anything at all. Some sort of fog filled her mind, and she was blinking frantically, feeling dazed, like she'd just bumped her head rather hard. Her vision cleared, and she found herself looking at a deep sapphire blue dragon who must've been Tsunami, because the last thing she could remember was the queen introducing her. Now, where had her mind wandered off to just now? No matter, now was the time to focus on the important things; introducing herself politely and properly to Tsunami, as she'd been taught to do by her etiquette teacher (never mind that she'd forgotten most of the lesson).

"H-hi," Cerulean stammered, nervous to be faced with such an imposing and important dragon. "I'm Cerulean."

Tsunami blinked now. "Umm, yes, I know that, Cerulean."

"Really?" Cerulean said, beaming. She felt suddenly uncharacteristically dull and stupid and boring. Like she needed to feel something else, and be more concerned about these sudden feeling she was suddenly experiencing. She also felt really delighted that Tsunami had known her name before they'd met.

Yes, she was super glad that she'd come to meet Tsunami now. It was the best thing and the most interesting thing that had happened to her so far.

 _What's wrong with you?_ some part of her brain shrieked in a hysteric voice.

"H-how did you know m-my name?" asked Cerulean, ignoring the screaming and still feeling ridiculously happy about everything, not a care in the world. Yes, there was nothing bothering her conscience at all, other than queenly duties, meeting Tsunami, and the slight guilt she still carried from yesterday, when the queen had murdered her hatchery guards. But there was also a trickling, in the back of her mind, something telling her that she should be concerned a lot more about things she couldn't remember, and should also be considerably worried at the fact she couldn't actually remember them.

Tsunami blinked again. "You told me just now."

Cerulean frowned. "Well of course I did. I was introducing myself. You must be Tsunami?"

The other SeaWing rounded on Orca, who wore a politely puzzled expression on her snout. "Yes?" the older dragon asked calmly.

"What did you do to her?" Tsunami demanded, and her sister immediately put her talons up, as if surrendering.

"What makes you think I did something to her?" Orca asked, still infuriatingly calm. "Cerulean, you're feeling alright?"

"Oh, YES," Cerulean replied, and something shifted inside her again. A new strange feeling settled over her scales. The hysterically shrieking voice was back.

 _Cerulean doesn't talk like that,_ it said to her, a little less shrill than before.

 _But I'm Cerulean,_ Cerulean argued, unsure as to why she was fighting with herself when quite clearly, there was absolutely nothing wrong with her. She was sure that meeting such a famous historical figure and a dragonet of destiny had done something to her, but she couldn't get the image of Orca eyeing her as Cerulean was speaking to Tsunami earlier about -

Now that was funny. There was some kind of blurriness that smudged the edges of the memory she was sure she once held. Yes. There was something stopping her from remembering what had happened before. Because she'd been talking to Tsunami about something, wanting to know answers, and Orca hadn't been thrilled - and then, she could remember, something strange had happened, and she'd introduced herself to Tsunami all over again, as if they were meeting for the first time. And she couldn't even remember what had been the topic of discussion before the descending fog had -

Cerulean's eyes widened, shocked. She couldn't believe what that would mean. As Tsunami and Orca argued and fought, she poked at the memory in her brain again. Sure enough, it was covered in what seemed to be an impenetrable fog. Definitely there, but impossible to actually see.

 _I've got to go tell my friends,_ she thought, feeling as if the world had suddenly shifted. _It must be Orca who is casting the fog into everyone's minds, preventing us all from finding things out. But why? And why is she doing it to me now?_

The noises around her dimmed, and her eyesight seemed to darken as she hastened to find a way to escape. Tsunami was nice enough, but surely this was important - Storm would love to know -

"How much soul do you even have left, after all your animus magic?" Tsunami was demanding of Orca.

"I haven't done that much," Orca replied carelessly. "Not enough to warrant any concern on the state of my soul."

"Oh yes?" snapped Tsunami, her scales flashing angrily. "The Orca statue. That must've cost you a lot of magic. Not to mention the staff and the shield you made, and the countless devices you enchanted to find Anemone and Auklet's murderer, all the gifts you gave the nobles after you became queen, things you did to help with the recovery from the war effort - I'd say that is definitely enough magic to warrant concern. Do you even have any soul left?"

Orca's eyes flashed, almost dangerously. "Of course I do, Tsunami. You are not an animus dragon. How are you to know my limits?"

Cerulean's throat seemed to constrict at the spells Tsunami had just listed. There had been so many, and surely Orca had done numerous enchantments for each category listed. How could the queen have any soul left after that?

 _Is Orca going crazy?_ she thought, now thoroughly alarmed.

"What's going on here?" came a new, much calmer, and definitely more confused voice. "'Nami, what's happening?"

Turning her head, Cerulean glimpsed the concerned face of a male dragon about Tsunami's age; it must be Riptide, her husband.

"Nothing, Riptide," Tsunami said, sounding irritated and cross.

"You get up to a lot of nothing these days," Riptide commented, still sounding confused, but also looking like he was used to being that way. "Please, calm down. This is supposed to be a nice visit, a chance to get away from everything else happening with us."

"I know," Tsunami replied. "You don't have to keep reminding me."

"You have to keep reminding me, though!" said another new voice, but Cerulean recognized this one; it was Spindrift, and as he spoke, he slipped into the seat next to Cerulean, shooting her a delighted grin. She felt instantly more relaxed with his presence, though she recalled that, just like Eddy, he didn't know about her. Someone else to tell, along with Azure and Freakwave, who were also taking seats at the table. Puddle was gone, although several other dragons had seated themselves alongside the princes Cerulean already knew. They must be the others.

"Spindrift," Orca greeted swiftly, her voice betraying no emotion, although her eyes seemed rather cold and distant.

"Mother," he yelped, as if he hadn't noticed her before. "Um, hi."

"Hello," came the queen's reply. She then turned to Tsunami. "Seeing as this has been your first visit to the Sea Kingdom since you left after the funeral seven years ago, I believe you haven't met your nephews."

Tsunami stiffened at these words, but nevertheless, she turned to look at the princes who were now sitting around her. "No, I believe I haven't. Hello, I'm Tsunami."

"We know," Freakwave assured her. "We've heard all about you. You're almost more famous than Cerulean." He added this with a wink to the purple dragonet. The feeling of wanting to be anywhere but here intensified greatly, and she looked around, hoping to see Chrysocolla or maybe Eddy, somehow, standing nearby reassuringly. Not that Spindrift, Freakwave, and Azure weren't comforting. It was just...they were in the same situation she was in, which wasn't helpful.

"Ah," Tsunami replied to Freakwave. "I see." She quite clearly didn't see, but was unsure of what to say, so instead she continued, "I'm hoping that there aren't thirty-two of you?"

"No," Azure assured her. "Only seven."

Orca opened her mouth and said, "Well," and then seemed to think better of whatever she was going to say and shut it again.

"I'm Azure," said the animus prince. "Um. Yes. That's me."

There was a quick round of introductions. Spindrift and Freakwave, of course, and then the three other brothers Cerulean was unacquainted with; Cyclone, Baltic, and Eider.

"And I'm Riptide," said Tsunami's husband last. "I'm obviously the oldest brother here."

"Stop it," Tsunami snapped at him, but it was more playful than demanding.

Freakwave, clearly not picking up on the sarcasm, said, "Wait, no you're not. I thought Eider and Baltic were the - oh."

"Well, that realization didn't take you as long as it normally did," Spindrift remarked.

"Wait," Tsunami said, "I thought you said there were seven of you. I counted six; Spindrift, Freakwave, Azure, Cyclone, Baltic, and Eider. Where's the seventh brother?"

The six present brothers all exchanged nervous looks, unsure of what to say, but then Orca leaned forward, so close to Tsunami's snout that they were nearly touching.

"Oh, you don't want to meet Archipelago," Orca said, her voice calm yet icy. "How very unfortunate it was to find out about his...well, we'd call it a condition, to be polite..."

"What?" was Tsunami's very confused question.

Orca paused, almost dramatically, before she continued. "You know what happened to Turtle?"

Tsunami froze at the name. "No, you can't mean that. Turtle didn't mean to. It was on accident, he didn't really kill A - "

"Yes, yes, we know how defensive you get about him, but honestly, after everything that happened with him and Darkstalker, he never was very stable in the mind, no matter how he might've seemed to you," Orca replied, rolling her eyes and carelessly waving her talons, as if brushing off Tsunami's words.

"Turtle didn't, though," Tsunami snapped.

"Didn't what?" Cerulean interrupted. When both the queen and her sister turned to look at her with eyes burning with equal amounts of hatred and anger, she suddenly felt as if she were going to die.

"Yeah, we'd like to know what our uncle did too," Spindrift joined in, brushing Cerulean's wings in a comforting manner, like, _you aren't alone._

Both sisters seemed to deflate slightly, and then exchanged looks, seeming to have an entire conversation with their eyes.

It was Riptide who answered, leaning between Tsunami and Orca and saying in a firm voice. "I'm assuming that you've been informed of the murders of Anemone and Auklet, and how, despite many efforts, the assassin was never found?" he asked, ignoring the light protests from the sisters telling him not to elaborate. He continued when the dragonets had nodded. "Well, the truth is, someone was caught. Turtle. When Orca cast an animus spell to reveal the princesses' murderer...it pointed to him."

The brothers exchanged shocked looks. Clearly this news stunned them, although why they looked so scandalized by the information was beyond Cerulean. She was trying to wrap her brain around what Riptide had just told her. So Turtle had murdered Anemone and Auklet...but why, and how?

"So what happened to him?" asked Baltic curiously. "He must still be alive, I know Mother visits him every so often."

The older dragons now all exchanged looks, and then Tsunami was the one speaking. "Yes, he's still alive. Well, in loose terms of that word. We were all shocked to discover that Turtle had...done what he'd done," Tsunami said, seeming to refuse to say the word 'murder' or 'killed' or 'death'. "But...I hate to say it, but what Queen Orca says is correct. Since everything with Darkstalker, seven years ago, Turtle had never been the same. We assumed that he was well enough to function...we're not sure what happened, but he snapped. Used his animus magic, and killed his sisters, quickly and soundly." She shuddered.

"But he's locked away now," Orca hastened to assure her sons, who continued to exchange uncomfortable and startled expressions. "He can't get any one of us now."

"But how?" asked Eider. "He could use his animus magic, surely, to escape."

"Be that as it may," Orca replied, "he's in a top safety prison, enchanted with my own magic to ensure that he cannot escape of his own accord. And as for his animus magic...well, it's not his anymore, that's for sure."

"You mean..." Cerulean started to ask, but trailed off, feeling sick.

"That's right," the queen nodded in agreement. "I took it."

Cerulean didn't know why she felt to sickened by the idea of an animus being robbed by another of their magic. It just seemed wrong. Animus magic should be part of the dragon...it shouldn't be able to just be... _removed_ and taken from them like some possession. It was like...slicing off a dragon's wings or tail. It was stripping something of theirs from them.

Tsunami didn't seem to have a problem with Turtle not being an animus dragon anymore, or Orca taking his power.

"So you're saying Archipelago murdered someone?" the dragonet of destiny asked. "That's what you implied with what you said."

"Wait, Archie murdered someone?" exclaimed Cyclone in utter shock.

"I always knew he was crazy," Freakwave said knowingly.

"Yeah, but not crazy enough to kill someone," Spindrift argued, shaking his head.

"Besides, wouldn't we have known?" Azure added.

 _Unless the fog covered up that memory,_ Cerulean's brain supplied. _But then, even if that were true, surely they would remember_ something _about Archipelago killing someone. But they don't. They just remember that they're supposed to be scared of him. But maybe that's why..._

At the same time, she added, _But surely he didn't kill anybody? I don't know that much about him, but he'd definitely not a murderer...and I'm so surprised about Turtle. From the little snippets I've read about him, he seems a lot like Archipelago._

"I'm sure you'd all be very interested to hear," the queen said, "but I'm afraid it's not information for you dragonets to hear. Tsunami, I'll inform you later - "

"Oh no, don't you pull that on me again," Tsunami interrupted through narrow eyes. "You're telling me now and not avoiding the subject."

Seeming to realize she had no choice, Orca hesitated, choosing her words carefully.

"You didn't know?" the queen finally said, once again in her offhand tone of voice she seemed quite fond of using. She almost smirked at the clueless expressions everyone exchanged, looking utterly lost. In an extremely smug voice, she said, "It's old news, really. But Archipelago was a twin. I wouldn't say murder is the word to use for this, precisely, but he certainly did kill his brother, strangled him to death before they'd even taken their first breath. But he definitely has killed someone - multiple someones, actually. Let's not forget, the reason all his sisters died in that hatching...is because he killed them all."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Heehee.

But hey, I updated on time!

Thanks for reading.

 **MysticFire101:** Oh, my bad! I should've known...but I'm so glad to hear that! MWAHAHA. I LOVE CLIFFHANGERS. AHAHA. THEY'RE SO FUN TO WRITE. Reading them, on the other hand...and here's another cliffhanger for you. You can hate me, but I know, as you stated, that you can't, and that is my secret weapon. Actually, I don't have one. Thank you, and I love you for all your support! I agree, I love cliffhangers when they're done correctly because you're like, I want to know more, but this doesn't make any sense at all, and then later, it totally does make sense! Thank you thank you for suggesting Breeze! It's such a pretty name. And it makes me warm and fuzzy on the inside too, when I see your kind reviews! So thank you, thank you so much! Haha. Thank you! I'm so glad you like the talk show! That's always great to hear and know! I will continue to try to make the characters hilarious! Thank you for your support, and for reading and reviewing!

 **Hamburger:** Oh my seashells, I'm so glad you liked the chapter! Thank you so much, it's always so great to know that people enjoy the chapters! Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **Someone:** MWAHAHA! I LIKE BEING SUSPENSEFUL...Haha :). Well, hope you liked Tsunami's reaction and found it believable! I ship Ripnami too, and honestly, even though they aren't technically canon, I felt that at this point in her life, Tsunami would've "settled down" as much as she can, and Riptide seems like the guy...Bit thanks, and don't let your brain explode! That would definitely not be good! And crazy caps writing is cool, I do that quite often myself. AND IT IS TRUE THIS IS HOW PERIL THINKS IN HER BOOK AND I AM ALWAYS IN A CRAZY MOOD! THANK YOU FOR READING AND REVIEWING!

 **Jaysong:** Yay! Unexploding brains is a good thing. No problem, I'm glad you liked her appearance and thought that it was awesome. I hope you liked Tsunami's reaction and found it realistic, too! Thanks, and I'm really happy and ever so grateful to you and that you continue to read and review! Haha. As you probably know by reading the chapters, Tsunami met her nephews. I'm not sure if she'll meet her other brothers...as for my friend, that's really neat! Really awesome, both you and my friend! And you sound like me, with your wrapping - any words anybody says that reminds me of a song, and I'm gone. (When I'm gone...when I'm gone...you're gonna miss me when I'm gone...) and then everyone really hates me and tells me to shut up. And it's okay, I'm sure you can rap way better than I can. ANYWAYS! THAT'S SUPER AWESOME! You should definitely get an account, if you can. And that's okay, I know plenty of people who have fanfiction accounts and don't write anything! Anyway, hope you liked this chapter, and I'm hoping to have the next one out by Friday of next week. Thank you for all your support, and for reading and reviewing!

 **jadewolf334:** Whoa indeed. But I'm hoping that was a good whoa. Yes, a lot did happen there...haha. Hahaha. And a lot happened here too...hahahahahaha. Whoohoo! Thanks, I'm so glad you thought it was awesome, and it's okay, awesome happens to be a very awesome word. Hmm, you might have a right to be suspicious of Queen Orca. Yay! And sorry Eddy was in this chapter...I'm going to try and bring him back in the next one, though, and you'll find out what's up with him. Glad you like his personality! Maybe Cerulean will like him...but I'm glad you like his character, and like him in general! Interesting! It's always cool to see what tribe people would want to belong to. I can see why every dragon tribe is cool, but there are some that I like more than others, of course. I wouldn't be able to choose an all time favorite, though. That's too hard! Oh, oh, my bad! I should've known you had the Resurrection Stone. That's so obvious! But that still means your dead...:(. AND YES, WE CAN SYMPATHIZE WITH WRITING. I totally get you there! I feel like a lot of my plot twists tend to be random, but I'm loving your plot twists in your story! (Sorry, by the way, that I haven't gotten around to reading the newest chapter of that - I'm so psyched that there's another one out waiting for me to read! AGH. WHY IS MY LIFE SO BUSY RIGHT AT THIS MOMENT? Yes, you are definitely awesome, and yes, this probably will go on for a while...XD. Yeah, Archipelago is kind of like Turtle...and I appreciate you pointing it out/asking! I love answering any questions you have. Yes, but still, even if I write her...it was very important that you came up with her. I hope you liked this chapter, and will definitely try to get the next one out next week. Haha, yes she is! Nice dance moves, though. And you're fine! I ramble too...hope you liked the chapter and read it with happiness XD. Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **Many Ruiz:** YOUR WELCOME! AND SORRY THAT I MADE YOU WAIT SO LONG! HOPEFULLY IT WASN'T THAT BAD THIS TIME...? *starts coughing* Excuse me. Anyway, you welcome! Thanks for suggesting him, and I'll try to use Gar more often later on. Haha, I'm glad you're protective of Storm - you're completely right, THERE ARE NO USELESS PRINCESSES BY THE NAME OF STORM, who is like the opposite of useless. XD. I will definitely try to keep up the good work, and thank you for your support, and for reading and reviewing!

 **Thepicduck:** Yay! I'm so glad you discovered this! And I'm hoping you like it...haha, yes. Okay, thank you for your suggestions, and 1. I'm sorry that I take up so much space responding...it's just, there's always so much to say! I'll try to cut down a bit if I can on unnecessary rambling, which I realize I tend to do quite often. Yes, it does take up a lot of space. You are completely right. 2. I dunno either, but yes, until next time! HARAMBE (poor gorilla, though, I feel so bad for him). Thank you for reading and reviewing!


	13. Chapter 12

I do not own Wings of Fire.

* * *

Chapter 12

Orca calmly cut into her fish and took a large bite. She seemed completely unperturbed by everything she'd just said, and completely oblivious to the way everyone else was reacting.

Tsunami's snout was a mixture of extremely surprised and warily suspicious, like she'd learned not to trust every word that was uttered by Orca, and like she planned to corner the queen later and interrogate her with a spear.

Riptide, on the other hand, looked like he wasn't too surprised by Orca's word - either that, or heor like he was used to Tsunami's older sister saying things like that. Azure seemed to pretend that he hadn't heard a word, and Freakwave had started out saying, "What the - " before Spindrift, who had an unusually grim expression on his snout, had hit him with one of his wings.

The other brothers, Cyclone, Eider, and Baltic, were exchanging shocked looks of their own among themselves, along with hushed mutterings.

"That's odd," Baltic commented at last.

"Hmm, isn't it," Orca said absently, like she wasn't really listening. "Now, as shocked as I'm all sure you are, please eat your dinner. It's quite late, and I'd like to get some other stuff done after this."

Eider and Baltic heeded her words, returning silently to their meals, while Cyclone excused himself and hastily disappeared from the room, although why, Cerulean was unsure.

"I've been sleeping with a murderer this entire time!" Spindrift whispered in her ear, and Cerulean wasn't sure if he was seriously terrified or just joking. If it was the latter, it had not come off as funny.

The others fell into silence, listening respectfully as Tsunami tried to steer the conversation away from what Orca had just said. The two made small talk about petty, unimportant things, like Tsunami's plans for Jade Mountain, how the recovery from everything was going, if Orca was planning on another hatching, and if Tsunami and Riptide were having eggs any time soon.

Really, it was almost funny, how easily talk had turned from a big dramatic reveal about Archipelago to the aforementioned topics, how easily subdued any reactions had been. It was almost...too easy. Like something had stopped Spindrift and the other brothers, Tsunami, and Riptide from reacting properly. That was, of course, assuming they would've acted in a more dramatic fashion.

Cerulean wondered if Orca had cast a spell. If she stood correct, and the queen was the one behind the fog that huddled around certain memories in a dragon's brain, then the purple dragonet supposed that Orca would feel no remorse at casting another small spell over other dragons. Especially to quiet down big news.

There were many things wrong with this.

 _Orca was acting so secretive about Archipelago before, and now she just told us a big thing about him like it was no big deal,_ she thought. _And nobody really reacted to that...I guess we are dragons; death is a part of life, but still, knowing Spindrift, Freakwave, and Azure, I would've thought they'd at least ask some kind of questions...and Tsunami isn't the kind of dragon to not demand to know more, even if I don't know her that well._

Now Cerulean realized she'd been fixating on Orca, the elegant blue curve of the queen's neck as she sat, poised and perfect, in her grand seat at the head of the long, polished wooden table of the feasting hall, the way the royal crown sat delicately on her head, sparkling under the lights, perched as though it belonged there, like Orca had been hatched with the tiara already there...

The purple dragonet jerked herself out of these thoughts, realizing that there was movement going on around her. Orca seemed to have finished eating, and she rose from her chair in a majestic sweeping of wings. The rest of the room hushed, and she spoke commandingly.

"Thank you all for coming to honor the return of our beloved Princess Tsunami," Orca said. "She will be staying for about a week, and to celebrate her visit, we shall have a party every night dedicated to her name and all she has done for us."

The watching dragons cheered in celebration, and Spindrift muttered something about "parties driving Freakwave crazy". Then Orca was sweeping away, chatter now filling the room, only looking back once at Cerulean to say, "Goodnight, my dear. I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning."

A familiar feeling of longing and admiration filled Cerulean's mind now, chasing away the confusion and questions harbored there. Oh, how she wished she was as good as Orca, how she wished she could be a good queen, how good Orca was at everything...

"So, Aunt Tsunami," Spindrift was saying now, "why aren't you next in line for the throne?"

Riptide nearly inhaled the water he was drinking at these words. " _Aunt_ Tsunami? Three moons, 'Nami, you sound old!"

She sent him a resentful look. "Not any older than _you,_ Riptide." She turned back to Spindrift, giving him a smile that seemed to border on forced. "There was a time, Spindrift, when I might've asked myself the same question, but all in all, I don't think I'm cut out for ruling a kingdom. Long story short, it's just too much responsibility. I've already had enough of that in my life. I want to sit back and not have to be constantly worrying, for once."

"You're not doing a very good job of that," her husband remarked dryly.

"Oh my gosh," Tsunami said with a frustrated sigh, looking like she very much wanted to reply in a snarky manner to Riptide. She too stood up. Turning to look at Cerulean and her nephews, she bid her farewell. "Well, it was an absolute pleasure to meet you all, especially you, Cerulean. I think this is where I'm supposed to say you're going to do a great job ruling the kingdom, and good luck with that...I'll visit again, and you'll see me more over this week. But for now, it's been an awfully long day and I think I'd like to turn in. Okay. Bye, all."

And with that, she quickly vanished into the crowd of feasting dragons. It was only a few moments later that Riptide also joined her, and Cerulean was left with the princes at the table.

Suddenly silence pressed down on them. The speaking of the other dragons in the room, even Baltic and Eider's quiet murmuring about everything they'd just learned, seemed to fade into nothingness. Cerulean's mind whirled around, much like it had been doing all day, but she felt incapable of processing any of the thoughts she was having.

She tried to recall this morning, when she'd come down to breakfast, her first time entering the dining hall and encountering so many loud and important dragons. All the days before that...she was off in the cell on the distant island in the middle of nowhere, occasionally making an appearance to meet Orca and learn about the way the kingdom ran, but mostly sitting in her dark cell, waiting for sunlight to appear as the door was opened and she was let free again.

It struck her, just now, how much had happened over the course of one day. It seemed impossible that so much could've happened without the sun setting once. Given, it was practically the next morning by now; the hour was so late, and everything seemed muted with her exhaustion...

But she had to go meet Eddy on this infinitely long day that was just beginning to end...

She turned to Spindrift, beckoning Azure and Freakwave closer as well. "I hope you all had a lovely afternoon," she said in a low voice, rough with her exhaustion.

The three princes exchanged looks.

"To be honest, it was pretty uneventful after you left," Azure replied quietly. He paused for a moment. "I did finish my net though. I promise, it shouldn't get you next time - everyone witnessed the second spell that I placed on it; only SkyWings will be caught by it now."

Cerulean hesitated, remembering that her friends still didn't know she was actually, somehow, a SkyWing.

"That's the thing," she said, her voice reaching a new level of quiet.

"What? Speak louder!" Freakwave squawked, then seemed to realize that there was a purpose to her hushed voice and immediately leaned forward to hear better.

"Spindrift, Freakwave, Azure," Cerulean continued, "I know it's really, really late - "

"Late, what are you talking about?" Freakwave huffed.

"What he means to say is that he never actually goes to sleep," Spindrift explained. "Freakwave's always super sleep deprived, which makes sense, because he's pretty crazy all the time. Oh wait, sorry, I'm taking away the dramatic moment of whatever Cerulean's trying to tell us."

The purple dragonet shot him a glare. "I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be dramatic on purpose."

"Whatever, I get it," Spindrift said with a friendly grin. "You're an animus that didn't even realize her power until this morning, going to be the next queen of the throne...you must have millions of secrets you don't want getting out."

She gave him a pointed look. "That's exactly the thing. Like I was saying...I know it's super late by _most_ dragons' standing," she gave Freakwave a glance, seeing that he wanted to interrupt again, "but...could you...I mean..." Oh moons, there it went, her voice. Failing and dipping and rasping with nervousness. She needed Orca's pipes, so loud and reassuring, filled with confidence that demanded attention and refused any leeway.

"Oh yes, I know exactly what you want me to do now," Spindrift said.

"You're not helping," Azure said to his brother.

"Neither are you," came Freakwave's response.

"Would it be possible for you to meet me in the library sometime later tonight?" Cerulean asked, finding her voice. Perhaps she'd finally realized that she was going to be revealing a lot more about herself later, so she might as well just get it over with...

"Sure!" Freakwave chirped immediately. "Scrolls. I love scrolls. Especially when they talk to me and tell me weird things. There's this one scroll named Inkwell who never - "

"Scrolls don't talk unless they're enchanted by animus magic," Azure interrupted.

"Yeah, that's your sleep deprivation getting to your mind," Spindrift added. He looked to Cerulean. "Listen, we'd love to come to your library meeting and everything. It's sounds super mysterious and exciting meeting in the dark secretly, but..."

He trailed off. Cerulean was uncertain as to what he was trying to say, exactly, but she'd gotten the point.

"No, no, it's fine," she said. "It's just...a lot's happened since I last saw you guys."

"I know, right!" Freakwave exclaimed adamantly.

"Just know this," Cerulean pressed on, glancing around quickly to see if anyone was paying them any mind. She saw nobody even glancing their way, so she deemed the conditions safe enough to continue. "There's a reason that SkyWing-only net Azure made caught me. I wish I could tell you more, but it's not safe enough in such an open space, with so many dragons."

"I told you I did the enchantment right!" Azure said loudly.

"Well, it didn't look like it based on the fact it caught Cerulean," Freakwave retorted.

While Azure and Freakwave dissolved into a petty argument, Spindrift gave Cerulean an extremely displeased look that she felt didn't belong on his snout.

"So you're basically saying we've got to go to the library with you in the middle of the night to find out what in Pyrrhia is going on with you," he sighed. "Why do I always befriend the slightly crazy dragons with endless secrets and possibly a dramatic and traumatic back story?"

Cerulean grinned, realizing that he was joking and was actually going to come to the library. "Didn't I tell you? I'm actually secretly Queen Coral in disguise!"

"Ack!" he yelped, believing her for just a second. "Oh, I see. Hahaha, that's not possible unless an animus dragon like, cursed Coral to look like you or something. But fine, we'll meet you in the library. How will we know when to come?"

"Just wait a bit for the castle to go to sleep," Cerulean replied, then looked around the feasting hall at all the eating and talking dragons. "That may take a while. But the library's fairly far from here. I think we'll be safe, even if guests haven't left."

"Hey, maybe you could use your animus magic and create a spell or something to tell us when to come," Azure suggested.

"Or maybe you could stop - " Freakwave began.

"Stop doing that, Azure!" Spindrift complained. "I'm supposed to say something like that. You're making me look stupid."

"Okay, that works," Cerulean cut in before the princes could start arguing again, for Azure looked very much unlike his usually placid self and was opening his mouth to retort to Spindrift. "I'll do that, then. Look for my signal later tonight."

* * *

Much like he'd promised, Eddy managed to send Cerulean a note when he returned from guard training later that night.

Hours ago, Cerulean had retired from the party honoring Tsunami's return and gone up to her room, where she'd taken to staring out the window at the moons in the sky. So big and so far away, they were impossible to reach, unbelievably bright in the darkness of the night sky. Cerulean wondered how long the moons had shone down on Pyrrhia, their light never faltering and their presence always certain. She wondered how much they'd seen, how much they knew.

 _Do the three of you remember back when Albatross was alive? Do you remember when the SeaWing massacre happened?_ she asked them silently. _Do you remember Darkstalker, and Prince Arctic, Foeslayer, and Whiteout? Do you know what happened to Orca after everyone believed Queen Coral had killed her? Do you know how she is truly still alive?_

 _And what about Anemone and Auklet? Did Turtle really kill them both, six years ago? And Archipelago, his twin...is his twin really dead? Did Archipelago really kill all his sisters in that hatching? And do you know why he has a hum of animus magic around him, when he can't do any magic at all?_

 _But most of all, do you know all that's happened to me? Do you know why I'm a SkyWing disguised as a SeaWing? Why am I going to be the next heir to the throne when there are so many other viable and more capable royal SeaWings then me?_

Of course, the moons didn't answer. They remained, shining bright, piercing the darkness, silent. Just yesterday, Cerulean recalled, she'd stood out on the beach next to Orca, staring up at those moons and feeling impossibly hopeful, almost free, like she could walk past the darkness and find everything out, be the dragon she wanted to be.

But now. Now everything was different. Perhaps it was because she was no longer outside standing beneath the moons, but now she felt...small. Hopeless. Lonely. Confused. Feelings she was already used to. But now, everything seemed to be magnified by all the new things she'd learned today.

How could one day change everything around her, the dragons she knew, the perspectives she held...so much?

She was beyond relieved when at last there was a light tap on her door, and Chrysocolla entered quietly, gracefully, and shut the mahogany opening with barely a sound.

"Your Majesty," said the maid with a bow, holding up a small piece of white paper like it was some kind of revered icon, perhaps a piece of jewelry.

"Thank you, Chrysocolla," the princess responded, plucking the note from Chrysocolla's hand and unfolding it carefully. The maid stepped back, falling into silence.

 _It seemed unnecessary to have the note sent when Chrysocolla could've just come up and told me herself,_ Cerulean reflected after reading Eddy's messy scrawl which informed her of his presence in the library, with Wave. The purple dragonet couldn't help but feel a bit irked knowing that the female SeaWing guard would be there, even though Wave had been so nice to her earlier at the feast.

"Come on," Cerulean spoke to Chrysocolla, who started.

"You want me to come with you?" she asked.

"Of course," the princess responded. Then she remembered that she needed to send some kind of signal with her animus magic to Spindrift, Azure, and Freakwave. "One second."

Her eyes flickered around the room, looking for an object that would suit her desire.

"What's this midnight meeting about?" Chrysocolla's voice cut across the silence after the quiet between them had grown painful to listen to.

"Everything," Cerulean responded. She picked up a quill that was on her desk, a white quill with feathers unmarred, yet to be dipped in ink and properly written with. It was probably from a great albatross. Very few dragons actually used quills to write. Claws here easier, for they allowed more control. She'd probably never use the quill other than for this enchantment. "I enchant this quill to fly down to Azure, Freakwave, and Spindrift's room and write on an empty scroll that we're meeting in the library."

The words for the spell came unnaturally easy to her, and she waited with abated breath for the quill to come to life and fly away much like the albatross it had come from.

Chrysocolla, too, waited in silence, looking like she wanted Cerulean to elaborate on her "everything" answer, but the maid's eyes were also fixed expectantly on the quill in Cerulean's talons, waiting to see the magic occur.

Nothing happened. The quill didn't even move in the slightest, its feathers only ruffled by Cerulean's exhale as she breathed.

"What's wrong?" asked the maid.

"I-i'm not sure either," Cerulean managed, a sinking feeling in her gut. Something seemed to stab at her head, piercing the numbness that had settled down onto her brain, a numbness she hadn't even noticed until now. Thoughts came rushing through her mind, and she was startled to realize that they were not her own. Flashes of blood and gleeful laughing, eerie rhyming and bone-chilling numbness settling over her wings like sand...great plans for a kingdom of blue dragons, a kingdom of dragons whom she absolutely despised...plotting, a writhing green dragon on the sand, and absolute chaos...

And then, from all this, came a sudden clear blissful moment. Blue surrounded her. She was soaring over mountaintops, and next to her flapped another dragon, red in color, looking at her as if she were the most beautiful thing on the planet.

 _A SkyWing,_ Cerulean realized, wondering what on earth she was doing with a SkyWing. Then she looked down to her talons and realized that she, too, was a SkyWing, and her feeling of shock at this realization was overcome by the pure joy rising inside of her, consuming her whole being. She had never felt this happy, not in all her life in the Sea Kingdom, waiting for the day when she'd claim the throne as her own...

But even as she soared through the night with this mysterious SkyWing, there was a feeling of underlying dread beating through her heart with every movement she made. Something dark trickled in the back of her mind, but she was pushing it away. She didn't want to think about the prophecy, the egg, or going home. Not yet. She wanted this one night to herself.

Because she was selfish.

She was always selfish.

And the unhatched dragonet was just another thing she needed in her selfish plan for her future.

* * *

"Cerulean, Cerulean!" someone was shaking her, dissolving the image of soaring over mountaintops from her mind. Cerulean blinked away the last of the star-scattered darkness and saw instead her room shadowed by night. Over her stood a very concerned looking Chrysocolla, who'd been the source of her shaking.

"Cerulean?" Chrysocolla said, quieter than before. Seeing that the princess was awake, the maid immediately amended her words to, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, what happened?" Cerulean pushed herself upright, off from the ground where she'd been laying. Apparently she'd fainted when those visions had cascaded into her brain.

"I don't know," Chrysocolla replied. "One moment you were upright, staring at the quill, waiting for it to do as you enchanted it to...and the next, you were down."

"The enchantment didn't work?" She felt hollow again. The numbness that had stopped momentarily had returned. Why was she feeling like this? Where was the Cerulean she was supposed to be? Where were her normal feelings of curiosity and interest and nervousness?

Why did she feel so...

"No, it didn't work," Chrysocolla said. "I don't know why. Everything you did with Storm and Archipelago and I worked. So I don't know why it didn't happen this time."

"I should try again," Cerulean said.

"No, no," the maid scolded, shaking her head. "I think you should rest. Perhaps call off the meeting. I can run down and tell Eddy and Wave of the happenings. You can meet up some other night and - "

"No, I'm going to go down," the princess said. She halted. Her voice...it sounded weird, distorted. It was too confident to be hers.

"Why? You're clearly not feeling well, Cer - " began Chrysocolla, and then halted when Cerulean turned around. "Oh my clams and currents. I mean, Your Majesty...of course you must go down if you feel like it's in your best interest. But...why?"

Cerulean didn't answer. She left her room, leaving Chrysocolla in the dark, looking at her talons and wondering what was wrong with her. Why hadn't the animus magic worked? Whose memories were those, that she'd just seen?

 _I'm going to live forever,_ some voice sang in her head. _I've got a whole plan. I'll be immortal, the best queen any SeaWing's ever had._

And there was that SkyWing she'd seen in her dream, looking solemn. _Spire, how can that be? You're a SkyWing, and besides, no dragon can live forever. It's just no logical, or reasonable, even for an animus dragon..._

 _You just_ _watch me, then,_ the other voice snapped back. _I know what I'm doing. I know my limits, Brisk. Don't tell me what to do._

 _Just be careful, Spire. Because...I'm afraid of losing you._

 _I've already lost myself,_ Cerulean thought.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Agh. I'm so, so, so sorry about not updating for um...a week. Sure, let's say a week and ignore the truth. I'M SO SORRY. YOU GUYS ARE ALL AMAZING AND I'VE BEEN NEGLECTING UPDATING ALL MY FANFICTIONS SO...I'm a terrible person.

I just had a lot going on...which isn't a good excuse. I'm going to try to get another chapter out this week to make up for lack of any new posts.

Any ideas on what's going on? Who in all of Pyrrhia is Spire? I hope characters still managed to sound convincing...I had so much difficulty writing this chapter to my liking.

Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing...any feedback is much appreciated.

 **MysticFire101:** Haha, glad you enjoyed the last update (AND SO SORRY ABOUT THE DELAYED CHAPTER). Don't worry, I've got plenty of cliffhangers left in store...XD. Mwahaha. Well, I hope I still have my secret weapon the story so that you don't hate me for this impossibly late update. Urgh. I'm angry at myself. I hope the turn events were still shocking for you! Haha. Maybe Archipelago did, maybe he didn't...THE WORLD MAY NEVER KNOW. I think I am going to stick with Breeze for Cerulean's SkyWing identity. Spire is another character...You might be right about Cerulean...on a different note, YES, WE ARE ALL WARM AND FUZZY ON THE INSIDE.

Starflight: THAT'S A SCAVENGER THING.

Me: Wrong story, Starflight.

Starflight: What? No, this is Wings of Fire.

Me: Well, I tried.

(And no I'm not mad!) Thanks for reading and reviewing!

 **dragonwritergirl112:** You know what I'm going to say...MWAHAHA. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

 **BrightMind:** Okay, I won't apologize. I was going to say I'm sorry for apologizing but I think that defeats the whole purpose of not apologizing, so sorry. Oops. I did it again. I have a habit of saying sorry all the time. It's so bad. Anyway. Thank you! I'm glad you think so! I agree, animus magic is a very thin line to thread, and I'm doing my best not the tangle it all up and strangle the story in the process (sorry, I couldn't resist making string-based puns). I don't know if I'm going to explore the concept of bringing dragons back from the dead. I'm leaning more towards life. From Darkstalker, we know that magic can give a dragon immortality. So I'm looking more at that...And yes, I really appreciate your help! Haha, it's okay about Eddy. I almost forgot about him for a moment too, and then I was reading through earlier chapters and said, "Wait, Eddy disappeared. He is important to the story, so that can't happen." I'm going to try and give him more screen time, so that they'll have more conversations together.

Sorry about still not answering much of the questions. I'm really hoping I'll manage to nicely tie up this story. That's probably the biggest amount of pressure currently. I'm going to try to close off some of the more trivial questions soon, so that there's a bit less about them and so that I can focus on my two main things: Cerulean, Archipelago, and Eddy (okay, maybe three things, but maybe some of them are connected and part of the same thing). The fog thing I'm thinking I'll explain in a few chapters, when Cerulean and Orca talk about some things that happened with Tsunami and Cerulean asks what's up with Orca. *Waggles eyebrows* What an interesting theory about Archie and Turtle.

Thanks for reading and reviewing!

 **jadewolf334:** Wow, I'm so glad you liked Tsunami's description! Also, glad you appreciated the Cerulean reference. I was looking through a list of Tsunami's brother, and then I saw Cerulean's name, and I thought, _huh, that's why Cerulean sounds familiar_ and then I got bothered about Tsunami not mentioning him, so I worked it in. And then I realized that I could use something involving him too! But yes, I agree, it bugs me when a fanfiction uses a canon name but doesn't mention the real character, particularly when the canon characters would know the original one. Anyway. First of all: GLAD YOU LIKED THE ANSWERS! Then, I laugh evilly. Lots is happening, and will continue to happen. I hope with chapter wasn't too confusing, regarding Cerulean's magic and this new Spire character. I know where this is going; I'm praying to story gods that everything works out properly and that I can logically explain answers for all the questions. Yay! I'm glad you've liked the story, and even happier that you enjoyed the last chapter the most! Hopefully I will continue to write to your standards. Sorry for the late update, and also, I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT READING YOUR LAST CHAPTER OF CASCAVEL. I AM A TERRIBLE PERSON. Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **InsertNameHere (or the awesome Remained Unnamed):** AAGGHHH! NO DON'T DIE I DON'T HAVE A FUNERAL PLANNED. I'm glad you're guest reviewing! It's always great to hear from you! ;)))))))))))))))))))). Thank you for the compliment - I knew you would say that because, you know, I'm psychic? Thank you. You too are a magical creature. Like, a unicorn or a phoenix. The fabulous WRETCHED! And it's okay if nobody else knows what you're talking about...hmm, yes indeed, how coincidental. Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **Jaysong:** Firstly, yay! I'm super excited to hear that! That's too bad about the Jaysong. That's really annoying when that happens, and really disappointing, too. Would you be okay using a different account? You could try to keep Jaysong in your username (because that's awesome) and then add various numbers/characters, so Jaysong1, or something similar to that? That is, if you still want a fanfiction account!

Secondly, I'm super glad that you liked this chapter! That's always so great to hear (and I'm glad you like the others, too!). Yup, OC appearances! Hmm...DID HE KILL SOMEBODY? THE WORLD MAY NEVER KNOW! Actually, it probably will at some point, but I just need to kick my lazy self into gear and start writing chapters more efficiently. Ooh, a question! Excuse me while I go interview Orca for a response.

Me: Orca, are you lying about Archipelago?

Orca: Who are you.

Me: I am the author.

Orca: You should know this already then.

Me: Yes but...this did not go as planned.

I'm also super happy you found Tsunami's reaction realistic! I'm not sure about Darkstalker. Probably not, and random thoughts are okay. I come up with random theories all the time, regardless of stories or real life, if that made sense. And that's an interesting theory...no! I love to hear theories that you have! I like to see how the details/questions/answers I give feed into speculations! It actually makes me really thrilled (aah, Scarlet). Thank you for reading, reviewing, and speculating!

 **Pancake Unicorn:** A chapter! Which I hoped you enjoyed! I hope this chapter continued the trend of 'more questions answered and new ones left unanswered.' Glad that this infuriating pattern draws you in! I think that was a compliment. I'm glad you like the other brother's names. I had Baltic's name planned, but needed to look up the other, and Cyclone is Jaysong's OC. That's an interesting speculation you have about Archipelago, and maybe you're right...I'm glad that you liked the last chapter! Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **PIEisPOSSIBLE6421:** PIE IS POSSIBLE! AGHHHH I'M SO HAPPY YOU GOT AN ACCOUNT. MWAHAHA SUSPENSE IS MY MIDDLE NAME (JUST KIDDING). And about updating fast...I kinda failed at that. I am, indeed, seeing a review sent by your username, and I'm thrilled about you getting an account! Congrats, awesome! Haha, I'm glad you found the chapter amazing! Thanks for reading and reviewing!

 **Thepicduck:** Indeed, and I appreciate that! But random things are funny sometimes when reviewing...and I failed at your suggestion. I just felt bad because it took me, like, an entire month to update, and I wanted to respond to stuff...I'll try to shorten things up next chapter and if I don't, please yell at me - or caps lock at me. I will do so. Harambe. Thank you for reading and reviewing.

Also, thank you to Cascade of Raining Ice and Pondfrost for all their time reading and editing this chapter! I REALLY APPRECIATE THE BOTH OF YOU!


	14. Chapter 13

I do not own Wings of Fire.

* * *

Chapter 13

The memory Cerulean had witnessed only a few heartbeats ago was still vivid in her mind. The confidence and cockiness the dragon named Spire had felt was still rushing through her own veins, causing Cerulean to move about much more swiftly and surely than she normally would've. And yet even with this adrenaline coursing throughout her body, her wings were weighed down with dread and confusion.

Things were much more complex than she could ever imagine. And if this vision was a sign, everything would only get more difficult and confusing from here on out.

Still feeling down and lost, Cerulean found herself striding through the palace hallways as she made her way down to the library to meet up with Eddy. A twist in her gut reminded her through the haze that seemed to settle down on her mind that the spell to tell Archipelago and Spindrift and the others had been an utter failure, and that there was no way to send them a message that the meeting was starting.

 _What happened to my animus powers?_ she now thought, stumbling a bit as she glanced down at her talons. Chrysocolla walked dutifully a few paces behind, either because it was some rule that royal servants had to walk slower than royalty, or because she sensed that Cerulean wanted a few moments to herself, to think.

Knowing Chrysocolla, it was probably both.

 _Why did my powers fail me?_ _They've worked before. But now when I tried to perform magic, all I got were those weird memories._ Then a new thought dawned on her. _If I was originally a SkyWing, then is it possible that I was once the dragonet named Spire? Just how long have I been a SeaWing for? I feel like it was my whole life, but animus magic can rewire your brain and mess with memories. What if Delta and Fen and the rest of my family are only a figment of imagination, created by whoever turned me into a SeaWing?_

She realized that there was no time to delve deeper into this terrifying thought, so she left it alone, as a glistening pool whose depth was impossible to gauge just by watching, and whose surface reflected everything but revealed nothing below.

They were at the library now. A queer feeling lit up in Cerulean's stomach as Chrysocolla pulled open the library doors slowly, trying to make as little noise as possible. Most of the castle was asleep by now, but there were always dragons guarding the palace for thieves and possible assassins, and servants were known to wander about the corridors in the silence of night.

Still, despite the maid's best efforts, the doors let out a faint, drawn out _creak_ that sent eerie chills racing down Cerulean's spine. She swallowed her nervousness down as best she could, but as she and Chrysocolla entered the dark library, she felt it creeping back up her throat, like the ghost of a long dead dragon back to haunt her.

With another eerie _creak_ , the doors shut with a muffled thump. It was even darker, as the candles that lit the outside corridor were cut off. Cerulean's favorite place was probably the library, and she'd never imagined it to look so chilling.

Cast in silver light from the moons that shone through the windows, every scroll shelf was a dragon in hiding, waiting to pounce the moment they let down their guard, and every surface that reflected light was a malevolent eye, watching their every move.

Normally the pearly moons were a comfort to Cerulean. They were untouchable celestial objects that brought a soaring feeling to her wings, chasing away her fears like they chased away the darkness of night. But now they seemed cold and distant, because even though their light spread to all the places they could reach, there were always places in shadow. Their light touched the library, but it was cut off by the harsher darkness of the place. Their saving grace could not reach Cerulean where she was now.

"Eddy?" she whispered. In the silence she heard nothing but her own voice echoed back, an even fainter breath. "Eddy?" she tried again, feeling a prick of confusion and apprehension.

"Something's not right," Chrysocolla said, her voice unusually low. They waited for a breath, but yet again there was no response.

Cerulean approached the nook where, earlier today - or at this point, yesterday - she and Storm, Archipelago, and Chrysocolla had sat and first discovered that Cerulean was a SkyWing. Perhaps Eddy had gone there and was waiting for her to find him. She found nothing there, not even a note that might explain where he'd gone or why he wasn't here to begin with.

"Cerulean," Chrysocolla spoke again, her voice a little louder now, so that it would carry to Cerulean. The maid had forgotten once again about decorative names. Fear was a thing that made everyone forget themselves. It was a faceless, blind dragon that stabbed at the hearts of every being it could reach. "He's not here. I think we should leave."

"But we said now," the princess protested quietly. "And he sent me a note, so he was definitely here. Maybe I should try a spell?"

Chrysocolla glanced around warily, eyeing the glowing windows and the shadowed shelves of scrolls. "I don't think that would help. Let's...let's leave. If you want to talk to anybody, I think we should head up to..." her voice trailed off.

"What?" asked Cerulean.

"Was that other guard Wave coming with Eddy to this meeting?" asked Chrysocolla, her voice sounding hoarse.

"Yes, I think so," Cerulean replied, recalling the note her friend had sent her earlier that night, when everything had made a little more sense and was definitely less creepy then it was now. "Why?"

The maid reached down and picked something up, holding it out to Cerulean.

"I think I found her," she replied. "Only..."

Only Wave was no longer a living, breathing dragon. She was now a beautifully detailed glass figurine, frozen in what seemed to be the last moments of her conscious life. Her wings were spread wide, and her snout was open in a snarl, revealing her sharp teeth. Her claws were outstretched, but it didn't look like she was trying to attack whoever had done this to her. The little glass figure was reaching for something, trying to grab whatever it was back from another, unknown dragon. Her glass eyes were blown wide with surprise and anger.

"Someone turned her to glass," Cerulean stated the obvious.

"Is she dead?" asked the maid, sounding horrified at the prospect.

"I don't think so," the princess replied with a nervous swallow. She took the glass figurine from Chrysocolla's talons and held Wave the figurine up to the pale light of the moons. The glass seemed to capture the silver, and for a moment the glass guard danced with fire. Then the light was cut off as Chrysocolla stepped in front of Cerulean.

"We need to leave," the maid ordered. "Now. We can study this later. I don't see anything else out of place. I don't know where Eddy's gone, but let's go now, before we meet the same fate as she did." She nodded to the figure of Wave.

Cerulean didn't need to be told twice. Clutching the figurine tightly in her talons, but not hard enough to crush it, she set out of the library at a brisk pace. Chrysocolla didn't bother staying behind her this time. She kept right up with the princess, rushing to exit the room of scrolls as quickly as possible.

What had happened to Wave deeply unsettled the heir. Just as she'd predicted, things had quickly gotten stranger and more mysterious. Not only was Wave now glass, but Eddy was also missing without an explanation. The meeting was supposed to clear the air between the two friends, reveal what had happened while they'd been apart. But instead, everything had only gotten more muddled and...

 _And Eddy was going to tell me something,_ Cerulean thought. _I hope that he's genuinely not missing, and that he only ran away to avoid being glass-ified like Wave or something._ This thought lifted her spirit a bit. _Maybe I'm just being pessimistic and assuming the worst has happened._

She realized that Chrysocolla was not leading them in the direction of her quarters.

"Where are we going now?"

"Up to the princes' rooms," she replied. "I think we need to inform them of developments in addition to everything else you were going to tell them."

"Good idea," Cerulean replied.

They turned the corner, and ran right into the dragon they'd been looking for all night.

"Eddy!" Cerulean exclaimed, and then realized how loud she'd been and lowered her voice. "S-sorry. Are you alright?"

Her friend blinked at her, but there was something off in his green eyes. They looked like shards of broken ice; sharp and cold.

It took him an unusual amount of time to recognize her. "Cerulean," he finally said. "There you are."

"What happened?"

"I thought we were supposed to meet in the library," her friend said without answering her question.

"We _were_ , but _you_ weren't there, even after you sent me a note saying you _were_ ," Cerulean accused.

"Note." Eddy repeated, appearing confused. "What note?" His snout was frowning, but his eyes were still eerily expressionless.

"How come Wave is now a glass figurine?" Chrysocolla asked now.

"What do you mean?" asked the guard.

The maid snorted in annoyance, and then pushed forward. "Come on, keep walking. I don't think it's safe to be discussing this stuff out in the open."

"Where are we going?" asked Eddy, sounding a bit more like his usual self. His eyes seemed to thaw a bit as they continued on their voyage, but there was still something odd about him. It was like he'd become partially glass too, as though he too had been affected by some sort of enchantment.

"To the princes' room. The library was...off," explained Chrysocolla, sounding suspicious. "Here we are."

* * *

"Were we expecting guests?" asked Freakwave when he opened the door to his room.

"Hmm? We were waiting for a signal," Azure muttered sleepily.

Cerulean was on another wavelength entirely. "That's odd. Azure, did you, um, did you happen to have your SkyWing net up?"

"No," came the animus's reply. "Why?"

"No, that makes sense then," the princess said. "I was wondering why it didn't catch me."

"But I made sure that it would only catch SkyWings this time," Azure protested. "Right, Spindrift, Freakwave? You saw me for sure!"

"Yeah," Spindrift agreed, seeming distracted.

Eddy, Chrysocolla, and Cerulean stepped into the room. Moonlight slanted on carpet from the many windows along one wall, casting the room in a silver glow much softer than the one in the library. Several candles were also lit, brightening the room further.

"That's the thing, though," Cerulean began. "Azure, you cast the spell correctly the first time."

"Huh?" all three brothers asked, looking confused.

"But it caught you, so it was faulty," Azure protested.

"It wasn't," Chrysocolla now chimed in. She shot a sideways look at the purple dragonet, asking silent permission to continue. When Cerulean assented, she pressed on. "That net detected something before even we did."

"What do you mean?" asked Freakwave. "It's a net."

"An enchanted net," Chrysocolla corrected. "And it did what it was supposed to. It caught a SkyWing."

This sentence seemed to confuse everyone. The brothers and Eddy shared bewildered looks.

"Cerulean's a SkyWing?" Eddy took a stab, sounding disbelieving. He sounded a bit more like his usual self. The glassy look in his eye had vanished, replaced by a fire of confusion as he glanced around the room, avoiding Cerulean's gaze.

"Nah, she's definitely a SeaWing," Freakwave denied, poking one of Cerulean's wings as if it proved his point. "See?"

The princess cleared her throat. "I look like a SeaWing. But I'm not."

"Okay, hold up," Spindrift interrupted, sounding exasperated. "I knew that my life would change when I befriended you, but I never thought it would get this crazy."

"What do you mean? I'm plenty crazy," Freakwave said.

"But I think you're being overdramatic, Cerulean," Spindrift continued, frowning in her direction, his normally cheerful snout etched with doubt. "I mean, I'm overdramatic all the time, because that's my middle name, obviously, but still."

"You don't have a middle name," Azure deadpanned.

"I wish I was," Cerulean replied. "And m-maybe I am. But watch this." She paused, opening her snout to cast a spell, and then abruptly shut it again, remembering that the last time she'd tried to use her powers, she had been unsuccessful. Instead she asked, "Is Archipelago here?"

"Hmm? Someone say my name?"

"Oh right," Freakwave stated matter of factly. He'd been sitting on his bed, and as the sheets underneath him stirred, he hopped up, revealing a sleepy-looking Archipelago. "I forgot about you."

"So did we," Spindrift said. "Anyway, you were showing us?"

Cerulean now exchanged a look with Chrysocolla. _What am I going to do now? My animus powers aren't working._

"Something weird's been happening." It was the maid who spoke. "Tonight Cerulean was trying to send you a message. But her magic wasn't working."

"You're an animus dragon?" Eddy asked, his green eyes blown wide. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"We only just found out," Cerulean explained quickly. "But I don't know if I actually am one now. Earlier tonight they weren't working. I just got weird memories that didn't belong to me. Azure, is it possible for animus magic to somehow...I don't know...rub off on other dragons? Like maybe somehow, your powers transferred over to me?"

Azure closed his eyes, appearing thoughtful. Then he opened them and shook his head. "No. I've never heard of such a thing, and even if it were possible, then why haven't Spindrift or Freakwave or any of my other brothers been able to cast enchantments? You must be an animus. But I can't explain why your powers aren't working."

"Maybe your powers only work in certain places," Archipelago suggested.

"But that wouldn't make sense," Eddy added his own opinion. "There's no such thing as specific animus magic or whatever you'd call that. Animus magic relies on its host, not on its surroundings."

"Why don't you try again?" Azure suggested. "Maybe you were just tired."

"Tired? What's the meaning of that words?" Freakwave asked unnecessarily.

"Alright," Cerulean said doubtfully. She looked around. "What can I enchant?"

Azure handed her a scroll. "Just use this scroll again. It's not really that important."

The princess took a breath. "I enchant this scroll to reveal the true identity of any dragon that should hold it."

The words uttered, she closed her eyes and waited to be bombarded by a barrage of images, unfamiliar red faces grinning and hissing at her, landscapes that she'd never seen before racing beneath her feet. But nothing happened.

"Wow, that was an interesting spell," Azure said instead. "I've never tried anything that broad. Has it worked?"

"Well, you certainly haven't changed," Spindrift commented dryly to his brother.

"Give it to me," Cerulean managed. "Um, please and thank you." She stretched out her talons. Azure reached out to transfer the scroll to her. She braced herself, half-expecting her scales to remain the same violet color. But the effect was instantaneous. Immediately her talons went red, as if stained by blood, and this time she could feel a shift in her stature and physique. Her wings grew larger, her shoulders broadened, her body and snout narrowed. She even felt slightly taller than before.

And in case she doubted her transformation, the expressions on Eddy's, Spindrift's, Azure's, and Freakwave's snouts were enough to tell her she was now a SkyWing. Even Chrysocolla and Archipelago, who knew and had seen her in this form before, looked taken aback.

Freakwave was the first to speak. He blinked very rapidly, and then said, "I know what this is. This is my sleep deprivation. I'm hallucinating. I should've listened to Spindrift."

"Flattering," his brother responded. "But unless I'm also sleep deprived than no, you are not hallucinating."

Now Azure spoke up, sounding more triumphant and annoyed than shocked. "I _told_ you I enchanted that net correctly, but you all said no, I was just an incompetent animus."

"You believed it," Freakwave pointed out.

Eddy cocked his head, examining Cerulean's scales. "Actually, if you think about it, this kind of makes sense."

Cerulean took a breath. "So," she spoke, and immediately winced. That voice was back again. "So," she tried once more, "earlier today, Storm, Chrysocolla, Archipelago, and I discovered that I am, in fact, somehow a SkyWing."

"Wow, we let you go for one moment and this happens," Spindrift said with a sigh.

There were a few beats of silence. Either everyone was too shocked to say anything, or the late hour had finally sunk in and everyone was exhausted beyond words.

"I still think I'm hallucinating," Freakwave announced, flopping down on a bed. He promptly fell asleep.

Cerulean set the scroll back down. A cold feeling had come over her. She shivered a bit, wondering for a brief moment why she felt so empty all of a sudden. Then she recalled that animus dragons supposedly lost a bit of their soul every time they enchanted something. This must be a side affect. It was odd, though, that she hadn't experienced this feeling before. This spell hadn't been her first.

"You okay, Cerulean?" Chrysocolla asked gently. She patted the edge of Spindrift's bed, and Cerulean sat down there. "Your eyes are kind of...glassy."

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied.

"Why don't you tell us a bit about those memories you saw when you tried last time to cast a spell," the maid suggested.

Cerulean set down the enchanted scroll, relieved to see her scales melt back to the violet she was familiar with. She saw the other dragons around her relax a bit too, though they still looked guarded and moved warily around her. Their statures were much more tense than before. But she supposed that this was an appropriate response.

"Speaking of which," she began. "Why did my powers work now, and not in my room?"

There were a few murmurs of suggestion, but these quickly died out. Nobody had any idea.

So Cerulean recounted the strange visions she'd seen when she'd tried to cast an enchantment to send the brothers a message. It was hard. The memories had mostly come in bursts of vividness.

"It was a dragon named Spire," Cerulean concluded, swallowing. "She - I think it was a she - was a SkyWing, and yet...she had plans for the SeaWings, not her own tribe."

These last words were met with silence.

"Are you sure you're not part NightWing?" asked Eddy. "That sounds like prophetic powers if you ask me."

Cerulean shook her head. "I'm pretty sure those were memories. But not mine."

"How do you know?" tried Archipelago. "Because, you know, um, you're actually a SkyWing? Sorry, sorry, that was obvious, you already know. But what I'm trying to say is, how do you know you actually aren't Spire?"

Nobody responded. It was a valid point, but Cerulean didn't have any words to tell the others that somehow, inexplicably, she just _knew_ that she was not Spire.

"Does anyone know what happened to Mother after she was supposedly killed by Queen Coral?" Archipelago asked at last.

"Some say she was somehow reincarnated," Eddy replied. "That's the story that's been circulating among the guards."

"That's ludicrous," Chrysocolla protested. "I'm not an expert on animus magic, but surely nothing can bring a dragon back from the dead."

"But look at it this way," the guard explained. "The queen's a clever dragon. She left behind a stone statue that killed countless female heirs before they were hatched, because she thought that she could win the contest. And she would've. It was only Coral's tail weapon that killed her, something nobody expected. Orca was only seven at the time. You have to look at the situation and think that it's odd that someone so young could almost kill someone with much more experience. So logically speaking, the queen might've made a backup plan, somehow, incase she was killed in battle."

"Even so, I stick by my previous statement," Chrysocolla deadpanned. "Nothing can bring a dragon back from the dead. Even if Her Majesty had made plans, nothing would've changed the fact that she was dead."

A bizarre idea sprung fully formed from Cerulean's mind. She picked up the statue of Wave, which upon entering the room she'd set down on the table. She held it up. "Unless...unless the dragon that challenged Coral wasn't Orca at all."

"What?"

"This is - was - Wave," Cerulean said, displaying the figurine.

Eddy's eyes widened when he saw the glass.

"EVEN MORE CRAZY THINGS!" Spindrift exclaimed. "I'm not sure if I'm loving this or not anymore."

"But if a dragon can be turned to glass, or some other non-living statue," Cerulean explained, "then who's to say the opposite can't be true? The queen was a very good sculpture, right? What if she made a carving of herself, and enchanted it to life, to challenge Coral? Because then, even if the statue died in battle, she'd still be alive to plan out another strategy, and if the statue won, she could ascend to the throne, get rid of it, and nobody would know better."

"That's quite something to accuse the queen of," Eddy said, sounding serious. "But it's not completely impossible."

"But then, if that's true," Spindrift countered, "then why didn't Mother come back after losing the contest? Where did she go?"

"And that's what we need to find out," Azure spoke. "I actually think that Cerulean might be right. Somehow, Mother replaced herself with a statue. But we don't know where she went for the next few years afterwards, or what she did. Hypothetically speaking, she could've somehow enchanted Cerulean the SkyWing into Cerulean the SeaWing during that time. I'm not sure how, or why. But like Eddy said, Mother's a clever dragon, and she has reasons for everything."

"Great," Cerulean said hollowly.

There were a few heartbeats of silence as their minds digested these new possibilities. The princess's mind raced around without actually thinking of anything.

"Well, this was enlightening and dramatic as always," Spindrift said. "I can't wait until I'm an old grumpy dragon like Tetra, so that I can go about the castle saying, 'Now you, young'uns, thinking you've seen so much. Lemme tell you, when _I_ was your age, I found out that the heir to the throne was actually a SkyWing and an animus and stopped an extremely corrupt monarch from taking over the world.'"

"Who says Her Majesty's corrupt?" snapped Chrysocolla, sounding defensive. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty. Excuse my tone."

"Wait, are you talking to me? Sorry, it's weird hearing dragons address me so formally. AHEM - It's okay," Spindrift said, assuming a mock dignified expression and voice. "I was just being overdramatic. Because if Cerulean can be overdramatic, then so can I. And I was just kidding!" he added when he saw the purple dragonet flare indignantly. "Fine, I guess I have to be super serious from now on. Well, any other dramatic secrets we have to share? Eddy, are you secretly my brother? Archipelago, have you murdered anyone else in the past few hours?" Chrysocolla, are you actually Turtle in disguise?"

"Of course not, that would be weird," Chrysocolla said, just as sharply as she'd spoken earlier. This time she didn't sound very remorseful.

Archipelago seemed to shrink down at Spindrift's careless words about him murdering others.

"Currents and clams, I was just kidding!" Spindrift defended. "But in all serious, are we done? My brain hurts with everything I've just learned, and my bed has never looked so appetizing."

"You plan on eating your bed," Azure deadpanned. Spindrift and he dissolved into a flurry of arguments. Archipelago had drifted off to sleep again, still tucked into Freakwave's bed, curled up next to his sleeping brother. Eddy appeared to be deep in thought, so by some unspoken agreement, Chrysocolla and Cerulean rose as one and made to exit the room. Dawn was quick to approach, and it was best to get some sleep, even if it was only a few hours' worth.

"Wait," Eddy said before anyone could leave. "I actually do have something to say."

* * *

 **Author's** **Note:** Enjoy! About not updating...we're not going to talk about that. Hope you liked! And thanks for all the reviews! That means a lot and I'm a horrible person so excuse me while I go and cry myself to sleep...

Special thanks to my WONDERFUL betas! I appreciate you guys so much.

 **MysticFire101:** You did review! And I really appreciate it! So don't apologize! You did, you're right! IT'S OKAY! Please breath! Yay, we're all warm and fuzzy on the inside! I'm glad you liked the last chapter, and hopefully this one was also up to standard! Plenty of suspense, hopefully (MWAHAHA) and I'm hoping things are making sense. I get what you're saying. Orca does, doesn't she? Good to know that's coming across. I'm glad I managing to keep her to the brief canon description we have of her. It is cool! Glad you like the name Brisk, but I'll probably stick with Breeze. You'll have to find out who Spire is...that should be coming up, though! If all goes to plan, Chapter 18 will reveal quite a bit as we move into Part Three, whose title I already know. You might be right, though! Sorry about confusion. I'M REALLY GLAD YOU LOVE THE STORY! THAT MAKES ME SO WARM AND FUZZY ON THE INSIDE! Thank you for reading and reviewing.

 **Celestialskyfire:** Cerulean is a SkyWing! Hehe. I can now be open with sharing that fact because it has all been revealed! I'm really glad you find this suspenseful, and thank you for the compliment! That's great to know and really brings a smile to my face. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for reading and reviewing.

 **Nany Ruiz:** FOURTH MOONS AND FIREBALLS! I'M SORRY THAT I'VE BEEN M.I.A. A.K.A. IN A WRITING BLOCK COMA FOR SO LONG. (Thanks for your concern, it's appreciated!) Anyway, YOUR WELCOME AND IT'S OKAY IF YOU CAN'T SPELL I DON'T CARE! I'm glad to know you like reading this! And I'm sorry for this update taking ages and ages and ages and...well, you get the idea. I hope to continue posting and I will definitely try to keep up the good work! Thank you for reading and reviewing.

 **Jaysong:** YAY! I am indeed not dead! So don't plan my funeral...yet. I hope that there was lots of cake in the planned one, though. So yeah. But happy (very exceedingly late) birthday! I hope you had lots of fun celebrating. Yay! Of course you can ask really random questions and make the characters answer! That can be a thing. I like random questions. As long as, you know, I can sort of answer them? Randomness is awesome. I love randomness. It is definitely a good thing, unlike predictability, which is also semi-good but only for predicting the future. ANYWAYS! I'm so glad you liked the last chapter, and I'm sorry I took ages to update. But glad you look forward to upcoming posts! I'm thinking that at the end of this story, I might do a sequel from Eddy or Archipelago's point of view but _shh it's too early and you heard nothing._ Please don't cry! I won't stop writing. I'm definitely going to try to see this through the end, even if it takes a while. Everything shall be explained in the future! (I hope.) Glad you liked the part with Tsunami. Haha, yes! Freakwave would be a lovely spirit animal. (Sleep deprivation is definitely a fact of life. Technically speaking it's a lack of your body producing melatonin but sorry I'm in biology and I've got to do a project on that so now whenever someone mentions sleep I go all super biology on them). I'M GLAD YOU'RE EXCITED FOR THIS CHAPTER!

Hmm, that's interesting that you already had an account, and yes, I do know how to change that! If you log on, go to Account, and press Settings, you should be able to find a box thing with User Name, and then Change in blue. Hope that helped! Glad you like my characterization of Spindrift and it's always a relief/compliment to know that from the person who let me use him! I'M PSYCHIC. IT'S A FACT. Thanks for the compliment. YOU ARE AMAZING! BYE! Thank you for reading and reviewing.

 **Jadewolf334:** Thank you! I'm glad you thought so! Sorry for perplexing you. Hopefully, I will be able to sum everything up nicely. It's one of those things where I know why and how everything is happening and I have everything explained in my head, but I'm not sure if everything that makes sense in my head will make sense in written words, if you know what I mean. I love SkyWings too! This is random, but to be honest I for some reason thought Burn, Blister, and Blaze were SkyWings for like, the first three books. The tribe will likely be a big part of this! ***laughs evilly to best of ability*** (Glad you like the name Spire, by the way! One of my few decent dragon names) yes, yes, what wonderful ingredients for my evil brew. All shall be revealed...at some point...in the next few chapters...and the ones after those...I'M SO SAD ABOUT YOUR STORY! But it's okay. It's fabulous and I can read your previous chapters over. I hope you update again soon, but take your time! It's about the quality, not about the sheer number of chapters you can publish in a short amount of time! Good luck, and thanks again! I'm glad you love this story so much! That makes me so happy! Haha. XD. Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **BrightMind:** Yeah, I often tend to fall into the 'sorry' pattern, as well as the 'like,' 'um,' and 'you know,' patterns. Indeed it does. XD.

In a way I think that the pressure is good. For me at the very least, it's very refreshing to see that people enjoy my writing, and knowing that people want me to update soon definitely motivates to start writing up a next chapter. I think that originally I definitely did what you didn't want writer's to do - updating as quickly as possible, even if it came at the expense of the writing. Now I try to only write when I feel the inspiration. I once read a fan fiction by an author who often talked about having a writing Muse who sometimes cooperated with her and sometimes didn't. At the time I didn't understand what she meant and thought that this was dumb, but now I really understand what she meant. I really do enjoy writing, not just this story, but the craft in general. It's great to lose yourself in characters and plot lines and forget about that big LA essay you have due next week or something like that (not that I completely procrastinate XD.) Thank you very much!

I always appreciate your criticism. I'm sorry if the chapters have been lacking the quality that the first chapters did. I'm hoping that these middle chapters will get a bit more exciting after I've cleared out all the speculations. I'm hoping that in the next few chapters there will be more interactions between Orca and Cerulean, as I find that I have lacked those recently, and additionally more with animus. I'm also thinking there will be a lot of flying at some point in the near future. I'll also try to develop side characters a bit more so it will be easier to tell if they are under Orca's influence, if at all. I'll also try to make things more obvious. I'm always slightly worried that I'm being too obvious in my writing, and I definitely struggle with hints. As the author who knows what's going to happen, I always see every hint I place in the writing as a dead giveaway, so I need to figure out the balance between being too subtle and too blatant.

So far it looks like all the really big surprises are going to ease off for the next few chapters. I do have two more things planned that will move into Part Three, but answers will likely/hopefully be coming soon. I'm going to try to not include a triangle relationship between Cerulean, Eddy, and Archipelago. Wouldn't mind writing a romantic pairing, but moons, unless its plot-relevant, I can't stand romantic drama :) Thank you for all the criticism. I will keep it in mind. I hope you'll continue to read! Thank you for your honesty, and for reading and reviewing.

 **InsertNameHere:** OH MY MOONS IT'S AN APOCALYPSE I DID UPDATE EVEN IF IT TOOK FOREVER. IT MEANS A LOT THAT YOU CHECK EVERY DAY. I'M GLAD YOU LIKE THE STORY. YOU'RE WELCOME. XD. It's okay, you are not a murderer. There is actually no way to delete an account that I know of (I looked it up). If you want to make it like you never existed, you've done as much as you could. I shall not sue you! And don't feel bad about disabling your account. You do what feels right! But you will always be the awesomest-est-est, so there! Thank you for the congratulations. Thank you for the compliments. Beluga is a wonderful spirit animal! THANK YOU FOR READING AND REVIEWING.

 **AJKC Water Molecule:** Me too! I'm glad you're liking the story! Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **Fatespeaker:** Well, I'm glad you gave this a try! And don't worry, I relate. When I can read, I do lots of it! It's always very interesting to see all the fan fictions and books out there! Happy spring break (although you're probably back in school at this point), and I'm super thrilled that you decided to give this story a try. I'm glad you think it's cool! That means a lot, coming from you, because all your stories are amazing and you must be some kind of goddess of literature. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thank you for reading and reviewing!

OH MY MOONS, I DID NOT REALIZE HOW MANY REVIEWS THERE WERE. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE SUPPORT!


	15. Chapter 14

I do not own Wings of Fire.

* * *

Chapter 14

Cerulean woke up the next morning with a distinct feeling that she'd forgotten something extremely important. She couldn't quite recall how she'd gotten to bed, because she was fairly certain that only seconds before, she'd been staring at the face of a familiar - yet somehow _unfamiliar_ dragon, who'd just told her something important.

She kept her eyes closed for a few heartbeats, and then slowly opened them. The pink light of the first rays of sun were creeping hesitantly into her room, as if unsure whether or not they were welcome. Out the window, the sky was painted gold and red, like the color of a SkyWing. The ocean glimmered in the newly born morning. It was a day much like any other, Cerulean mused, still not rising from her bed. Yesterday, she recalled being frightened of the room, waking up to a scream of some sort, but now she couldn't remember if the sound had been real or just a figment of imagination, or whether or not it was really of any importance.

Words swirled around her mind, disembodied and confused. _Animus. SkyWing. Me. Orca. Evil? Archipelago. Eddy._ Her eyes roved the room, looking unconsciously for something they couldn't see, and then, in the shimmering light from outside, her eyes caught on a glimmer of something.

A small glass figurine.

 _Oh, not just any statue,_ she recalled haltingly. _That's...that's...kind of odd._

She picked up the small object, which was right on her bedside table. In the light of the rising sun, she examined the crystalline shape in her talons. A fierce snarl marred the glass dragon's snout. Her wings were open defensively. She reared up, talons outstretched. Cerulean had a distinct feeling that she should be much more worried about the fact that the dragon was now a tiny glass figure, but she couldn't remember why there was need to stress. Likely, this small trinket was merely a gift from Orca. Perhaps it was animus touched, like most of the presents she got from the queen.

Cerulean set the figure back down on the table, and then stretched her wings, marveling at the feeling of smooth sheets against her scales. Only a few days ago, she'd be waking up to rocks scratching at her body, the bitter taste of thirst in her mouth and an aching in her wings, which yearned to stretch and take to the sky. Just a few days ago, she'd been trapped on an island prison, faraway from the Kingdom of the Sea for reasons she hadn't, and still didn't, entirely know. She'd been clueless, just a small four-year-old dragonet wondering what in all the sky she'd done to deserve the lock-up. Wondering why she was supposed to be queen when her sisters and everyone else on the small island she'd called home were much more qualified to rule a tribe. Wondering when she'd next see her best and only friend, Eddy.

Her mind stumbled to a halt when she came to Eddy. Beneath her lids, she could see his face, lit eerily by an icy white glow that she couldn't explain, because suddenly there was a twisting feeling in her gut, and a million questions in her mind, like, _Does Orca know, was this the reason Eddy was brought to the castle at such a young age, is he related to the royal family then, did he turn Wave into glass, but why?_ And then. And then there was nothing but darkness and a white hum in her ears. Power surged into her talons, power that shouldn't have belonged to her. There was surprise on the snouts of her friends. Spindrift, his mouth agape, speechless for once. Archipelago, looking at Eddy as though he were the ghost of a dragon resurrected. Chrysocolla, a million different expressions on her snout. And Eddy, his gaze cold and hard.

Then she woke up in bed, and here she was now, trying in vain to recall what had happened next.

The door opened. A maid walked in, holding a tray loaded with delicious smelling foods. It was not Chrysocolla. This struck an odd chord in Cerulean. Where was her friend? Wasn't Chrysocolla assigned to her room or something?

"Good morning, Your Majesty," she said in a courteous and friendly voice. She set about at once, opening drawers and the wardrobe, and laying out an assortment of jewels. "Her Highness wishes that you would join her in the throne room after you've eaten breakfast. She will tell you more when you meet with her. I'll just set your breakfast right over here, ma'am, and if you need anything else, I'll be right outside."

The maid was almost out of the door by the time Cerulean managed to speak. "You aren't Chrysocolla."

The other dragoness gave her a patient smile. "No, my dear," she said, and then swept her wings open with a flair, revealing a large and jagged scar on the side of her left wing. "My name is Pelican."

"What happened to Chrysocolla?" asked the princess.

Pelican snapped her wings shut again, taking another step towards the door. "She was reassigned, Your Majesty."

"Reassigned? Why?"

Now the maid drew herself up. Her snout was drawn down seriously, but her eyes betrayed sympathy for Cerulean. "The details concerning Chrysocolla's reassignment are beyond my knowledge. I believe the Queen is concerned about her influence on you, is all. Now, Her Highness gave me strict orders to have you fed and dressed before the end of dawn. I do realize it's early, but I fear you have another long day ahead of you." With that, Pelican bowed low and stepped outside.

 _Another long day ahead of you._ Cerulean sighed. She got the feeling that yesterday had also been an exceedingly long day. No, it _had_ been a long day. She could remember that. Why was yesterday so blurry? Okay, Cerulean, go over the facts. You are a SkyWing animus who can only cast magic at certain times, for some reason that you have yet to figure out. Eddy told you something, but you don't know what it is because you can't remember. And you don't know why you can't remember. But now that you're awake, you can find your friends and together you can piece together what happened.

Feeling newly resolved, Cerulean sat up, and was immediately bombarded by pain in her head so excruciating she couldn't even think to scream. She clutched her head in her talons and briefly wondered if her brain had exploded, or if she was dead, or if she had too much going on and she finally couldn't take it anymore. But then, as suddenly as it had come, the pain was gone, as fleet as a dragon taking off, as quickly as a shattering egg.

* * *

"Right this way, Your Majesty," said Pelican, heaving open the doors to Cerulean's room so that the princess could leave. "I shall escort you to the throne room."

"Oh, there's no need," Cerulean assured the maid. "I know my way by now."

Pelican gave her an understanding smile. "I'm sorry, but you must understand - the Queen gave me very strict orders."

Cerulean slumped. She'd been planning on a quick visit up to Archipelago and Spindrift's room, just a brief drop in to see if they remembered what happened last night so her curiosity might be sated at least temporarily. But if Pelican was with her - well, the maid seemed nice, but she didn't want anyone else to get involved with everything that was happening.

She let Pelican lead her to the throne room in silence.

They'd almost made it there without mishap when Cerulean heard her name called.

It was Storm. She looked distressed, but there she was, hurrying towards the other SeaWing (SkyWing) as quickly as she could. "Cerulean!" she called again. "Last night," she continued before she actually was by the other's side, "what, what happened? Spindrift tried me - or tried to tell me - he can't really remember - and of course I missed it - I _always_ miss the important things - and - "

Before she could finish her ramblings, the door to the throne room opened. There stood Queen Orca in all her glory. She regarded Storm with a cold and calmly curious look. "Princess Storm," she said, her voice slippery smooth and icy. "What might you be doing _here_ when I clearly gave orders for you to be in the library with Tetra?"

Storm looked flustered. "Yes, of course, Your Highness, but, I just wanted to talk with Cerulean quickly and - "

"That's _Her Majesty_ to you," Orca corrected. "You may be a Princess, Storm, but Cerulean is your superior and you shall address her as such. I was unaware that you were on name terms. You are not friends. You are _allies."_

"Oh, but Queen Orca, Storm and I _are_ friends," Cerulean clarified. She expected Storm to give her a warm smile, but instead the other princess just looked horrified and shook her head frantically at Orca.

"No, we're not, of course, my mistake, I'll go right back to the library and wait for, uh, Tetra..." Storm mumbled.

"Good," Orca said. "Have fun."

"What about our lessons in the library?" Cerulean tried once more. "And her being my advisor?"

Storm stared at the princess as though she were a dragon from the lost continent, and then said, her voice unusually cold, "Your Majesty, you'll find that in the royal world, things are very fleeting. Don't get used to one routine. Good day."

Shocked, the purple dragonet watched as Storm walked away as quickly as she could in the opposite direction, vanishing down the corridor. Then she whirled back around to face Orca, opening her snout to protest, or perhaps ask a few questions as to why the other princess had been sent away. But Orca was smiling widely, beckoning her into the opened doors of the throne room, and a swelling feeling filled inside her, replacing her curiosity and doubts and confusion. Suddenly, Storm didn't really matter. Neither did figuring out what had happened last night. It wouldn't matter, because even if something dangerous was going on, the Queen would be there to protect her. Cerulean matched Orca's smile, and swept after the dragoness into the throne room.

The throne room at the palace was smaller and less grand than the one in the Deep Palace. Many years ago, after everything had passed with Darkstalker and the NightWing and IceWings, the destroyed Summer Palace had been rebuilt. It was less grandiose than the one that proceeded it, as halfway through production, Princess Anemone and Queen Coral had turned their attention to building another palace, in a less remote location, so that other queens could come and visit. After it had been finished, it had been quite popular; the Summer Palace was all but abandoned in favor of living in the newer, bigger palace. But then Anemone and Auklet were killed there, and when the murderer could not be found, dragons began panicking about a murder on the loose in the new palace, and some of the more paranoid fled back to the hidden and unfinished Summer Palace. The new palace was completely deserted two years ago, for reasons Cerulean did not know. The Summer Palace was finished, but Orca demanded that they simply complete the things that had been left undone.

"Alright, my dear," Orca said, sweeping her wings. "Today is a big, big day for you. I've decided that it's time that you get a real taste of everything I do as queen. I'm sure the teaching is completely unneeded, because you, Cerulean, are a natural at being ruler." She smiled widely, showing her long and white teeth. Her expression suggested pride and trust in her heir, but somehow, in the few days Cerulean had begun living in the palace, her instincts told her not to pay attention to the face of a dragon - especially Orca, who had a million different emotions on her at once. The eyes betrayed much more of the inner workings of a dragon.

And Orca's eyes were not proud or trusting. They were calculating and sure of what they were doing. _Like a queen should be,_ Cerulean thought. But her admiration of the Queen had fallen flat suddenly and her worries and questions flooded back into her mind. She wondered what was going on in the mysterious dragoness's mind.

" _All_ the responsibilities of the queen," Orca continued abruptly, snapping her head away from the dragonet. "Council meetings. The sword and the staff. All my other animus presents to the tribe. Taking care of your tribe. The works. We're off to the Deep Palace, and now that we've solved your little water problem, we'll be staying there for a good long while." She smiled again. "Why don't you go up to your room very, very quickly and pack up some stuff to take with you? Don't expect to come back to the Summer Palace for several weeks."

A stone dropped in Cerulean's stomach. Several weeks? If she was gone that long, she wouldn't get to talk to her friends. There would be almost no way to figure out what Eddy had tried to tell her, or why she was a SkyWing SeaWing princess, or an animus, or who the strange Spire dragon was. Or possibly she could try to, on her own - the Deep Palace held some of the SeaWing's more treasured scrolls, about animus dragons and the limits of the power, and was rumored to contain the manuscript for Turtle's autobiography, something the infamous SeaWing prince had been working on before his sisters were murdered. But even if she could find out any more, there was no way to talk to her friends, and she needed them to help her figure things out. Storm, with the brilliant mind, Chrysocolla, with her reassuring and curious presence, Eddy, with his secrets, Archipelago, misunderstood but wanting to help, Spindrift, with his sense of humor, Freakwave, so lovably crazy, and Azure, always nervous, much like Cerulean herself. And Wave. She needed to figure out what had happened to her. Figuring out everything was too much for her.

"What can I bring?" asked Cerulean.

Orca smiled again. "Anything you wish, my dear."

"I have one request," the heir began.

"Go ahead," the Queen said, her smile still on her snout.

Cerulean took a deep breath. She knew Orca would likely refuse to comply at first. The purple dragonet was trying to reach within herself, to summon some of her queenly confidence that Orca was so sure she had. "I want Eddy to come with me."

On the other dragon's snout, the smile wavered, but she managed to keep it on. "There are already many guards escorting us to the Deep Palace, Cerulean. There's no need for him to come as well."

"Please," Cerulean tried again. But the very limited amount of confidence had faded and died before it even made itself present. She needed her SkyWing voice, the calm and confident one she had when she donned red scales. She knew she'd lost the brief battle to bring Eddy with her. Orca was already turning away from her to sit on her throne.

"No, Cerulean, and that is final," the dragoness snapped, her smile completely gone. "Eddy will not be coming with us."

"But why?"

Orca had thought she had won the battle. Cerulean could see that. The Queen had not expected her small and timid heir to speak again. Her head turned slowly in the direction of the oddly colored dragonet. "Why?" she repeated. "Because I said so. And my word is law."

"But he's one of your most trusted advisors," Cerulean persisted.

"Cerulean." There was warning in Orca's voice now. "I'll bring Wave along instead. Oh, no, she's currently indisposed. We'll bring Gar and Aquamarine along, and I'll have Gail bring his daughter, too. There. Now, hurry along and pack up, or I won't let you bring anything."

* * *

Pelican was outside the doors when Cerulean pushed out of the throne room. The maid gave her a sympathetic smile. "Being queen is difficult, isn't it?" she said by way of conversation, starting forward so as to lead the way back to the princess's room.

Cerulean nodded, but said nothing else. She was trying to think of some way where she could escape to talk to the princes and Chrysocolla and Eddy again. She didn't see a way out of leaving for the Deep Palace, so she had to see them one last time before she left. She didn't know when she'd see them again. But the problem was Pelican. The maid followed her orders diligently, and Cerulean needed a way to shake the maid off. No wonderful plan came to her mind as they weaved through the halls of the palace. They arrived to her room, and Pelican said that she would wait outside for Cerulean to pack.

Now, standing in her big and much to flamboyant room, Cerulean wondered what on earth she had to pack. She had no prized possession. Those had all been left behind when she'd gone with Orca to become the next queen. Her enchanted jewelry was all on her, so she had no need to take it off and lug it around in a separate bag. She fidgeted with the Orca necklace momentarily, still trying to figure out a way to escape Pelican's watchful eyes. She examined the window of her bedroom. She hadn't paid much attention to the balcony attached to it, so caught up with watching the sunrises and sunsets and the moons and the sky through the glass. But now, she figured it was her one chance to escape.

Quietly, she checked to make sure the doors were shut tight. They were. Apprehension biting away at her insides and her heart thumping annoyingly loud in her chest, Cerulean crept over to the window. She examined it, frightened into thinking there was no possible way to open it, despite the obvious. In her rush to escape - there was only so long she could take to pack, after all, before Pelican might get suspicious of what was actually happening - her talons were tumbling over each other. Seconds before closing the balcony door and locking herself out of her room, her gaze fell on the figurine of Wave on her bedside table, looking so helpless and fragile despite her fierce expression.

And then something occurred to Cerulean - something Orca had said to her in the throne room.

 _"I'll bring wave along instead. Oh, no, she's currently indisposed."_

The Queen's voice echoed in Cerulean's mind like a tolling bell. The princess darted back into her room and grabbed the statue, praying it wouldn't break in her talons, just as Pelican called from outside. "Your Majesty? Is everything all right? Anything I can help you with?"

Heart beating in her throat a million miles per hour, Cerulean called out in her calmest, most yes-I'm-definitely-packing-the-many-valuables-I-own-in-my-bag voice, "Uh...yes, thank you, Pelican. I can't decide which...uh...of the many CROWNS to take with me to the palace..."

She held her breath, expecting the maid to burst into the room and see the open window and say, "AHA! I KNEW YOU WERE ESCAPING WITH MY SPECIAL MAID INTUITION!" Pelican just laughed from outside. "Alright, Your Majesty. Just don't be too long, the Queen is expecting us very soon."

The next heartbeat, Cerulean was out of the room and window was locked. Her wings beat in a rhythm to match her heart. She flew in the direction she believed Spindrift's room to be, clutching a glass Wave tightly in her talons.

 _"I'll bring wave along instead. Oh, no, she's currently indisposed."_

How in Pyrrhia had Orca known about Wave?

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Hello, everyone, be proud of me, I updated! Sorry about the real long wait! I've been off of fanfiction for a very long time, but I'm hoping that I'll be back for at least a little bit. Hopefully y'all enjoyed this chapter!

Anyway, I finished reading the Darkness of Dragons! WHEEEE! Although now I feel like my life is empty 'cause I finished the series and SPOILER Moonbli is officially canon. END OF SPOILER

SPOILER ALERT YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED At least they're doing another series with the lost continent! We'll see how that goes.

END OF SPOILER

Thank you all for all of your amazing support and patience, and to my amazing betas for proof reading all of my mistakes and making this story better! A lot of answers will (hopefully) be coming to light, and I'm praying to the moons that all explanations make sense.

Additionally - and yes, this is only Chapter 14 of hopefully 22, I'm thinking that I will be doing a sequel with Eddy and Archipelago. I have possible title options, but most of the titles spoil what hasn't been revealed yet. Yay! This is also debatably a spoiler of sorts for this story, but Part Three of the story will be called Wings of Fire, following the pattern of Wings of Sea and Wings of Sky. See if that tells you anything! ;)

Again thank you for everything, to all my readers and reviewers! Keep being amazing, which you all are without me asking you to be!

 **InsertNameHere:** Do not apologize for a late review! That is okay! I am happy you reviewed. _I_ should be apologizing for such a late update. Please do not sue me. And I'm so thrilled about your reincarnation! I read the first chapter of your rewrite and it's fabulous. I must leave a review as myself though because I was not logged in upon reading it. Oh no, but you are the awesomest-est-est! So there! Thank you for the congratulations, I have lived a long life (a millenia wow!). My spirit animal would probably be a fox...although my Patronus is a hippogriff, so I wonder what that means...Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **Jaysong:** YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW HAPPY I AM WHEN I SEE REVIEWS FROM YOU - SO DON'T WORRY ABOUT MULTIPLE REVIEWS! I LOVE HEARING FROM YOU! Hope you liked the next chapter and I'm starting the next one already (we'll see when it comes out though). QUESTIONS WILL BE ANSWERED IN THE NEAR FUTURE! Yes to mass slumber parties! And yes, poor Wave! You are completely right. And your welcome! That's so cool you got to see Hamilton! I love psychics - I'm a bit psychic if I do say so myself. Ah yes, the joys of biology. Luckily I'm off to chemistry next year, so I'm done with that until possibly later, we'll see. All right, hit me with a question! No matter how random!  
Me: Eddy and Cerulean, Whisper and Spindrift -  
Spindrift: Oh no, don't drag _me_ into this!  
Me: Are wondering how you feel about being shipped together by the two of them?  
Cerulean and Eddy are confused.  
Eddy: Shipped? Like those things scavengers sail in?  
Cerulean: No Eddy, she means shipped as in 'relationship' so romantically.  
Eddy: Oh. I thought we were just friends?  
Cerulean: Me too?  
Me: Right now you're just friends. But in the future...  
Whisper: Wait, are you saying -  
Me: I don't know, we'll have to see how this goes.  
And you should probably continue planning for the funeral because of my extreme delay in updating...:( I'll try to make chapters longer, as well. See ya! THank you for the review!

 **jadewolf334:** YAY! It's so fabulous to know that you thought so, and thank you! Glad you liked Cerulean's secret being revealed to her closest friends! I must say, that was fun to write. Is Eddy going to be turned into glass? OR DID HE TURN WAVE INTO GLASS? WE DON'T KNOW! WE'LL NEVER KNOW! *dramatic music* Well, about speculations on Orca, there was a bit more stuff on her and her relationship with Cerulean. Definitely expect a big thing about her in either the next chapter or the one after that - I'm not quite sure how long Cerulean's going to be trying to find the princes and Chrysocolla and Storm. We'll see! Thank you! That compliment means a lot, and I hope this chapter was up to par! Sorry about not updating in ages, and glad you feel the same way. Indeed, writer's block has taken many a poor soul. I did take a break from fanfiction for a bit, but now that I'm back, I'm hoping to add a few chapters to some of my stories, and I see you've updated Cascavel! I am going to make a point of sitting down and rereading every chapter of that story and reading your newer installments! You are a fabulously talented writer! And I understand what you mean...Thank YOU so much for all of your support! You are also one of the best people I know (even though...yeah, what you said)! Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **MysticFire101:** No need to worry! Haha, I love my talent so much. That actually might be a useful and strangely discreet super power - like, the ability to torture someone with suspense. Yes, I like that. That is my super power. Thank you! I hope this chapter was also awesome! Got a lot to live up to and I don't want to disappoint anyone! Suspense, mystery and crime and horror are all my middle names - wait, what? Oh, Spindrift wants to inform you that those are in fact _his_ middle names, and...and now Puddle's telling him to shut up. I'M SO GLAD YOU LOVE IT! IT MEANS SO MUCH TO ME TO KNOW THAT. Sorry for not updating for ages! Hope you're still interested in the story! I feel so bad about taking forever to post. Anyway...I'm hoping all the characters don't get too confusing. I think that, for the most part, I've separated the main, _main_ characters apart from the background characters, but I'm thinking that Puddle will get a bit of a bigger role in the future...here, I've got an oxygen mask and a gag and an oxygen tank so you do not need to worry about running out of breath...we'll pretend that that's scientifically accurate...anyway, thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **Thepickduck:** That is actually probably accurate. Sorry. I just am so appreciative of all the feedback and want people to know...and I fail at cutting back responses. Hopefully next chapter responses will be shorter...heehee...Thank you for reading and reviewing.

 **PIEisPOSSIBLE6421:** YAAAAAAAAAY! Finally! Another chapter, that took several months to post. Haha. Sorry about delays. I'm terrible at scheduling and updating and life. Glad you liked the chapter! Hopefully this is also equally awesome! Yes for convincing friends to read Wings of Fire! It is not immature! XD Capitals are fun and exciting. It's okay, don't fret about not reviewing, I'm just glad you're reading this! Sorry about not updating in forever! I'll try to update more frequently, though! Thank you for reading and reviewing!

 **SageKitty:** Here's another update! Sorry about not updating in so long! I'm glad you really like the story, though, it means a lot. Oh my moons, enough of talking - I must save you! With my epic powers of suspense - oh wait that's probably not helpful...XD Thank you for reading and reviewing!


	16. Chapter 15

I do not own Wings of Fire.

* * *

Chapter Fifteen

Cerulean was lost.

The Summer Palace may not have been as big and grandiose as it once had been, but it was by no means easier to navigate, and soon Cerulean couldn't remember which direction her room was in. By now she knew Pelican would be far beyond suspicious that Cerulean hadn't finished, and Orca impatient. She needed to get inside quickly, before a search party was sent out to find her. SeaWings preferred to swim, so she was the only one in the sky around the palace, which was good because nobody was suspicious of her presence, but bad because she was very obvious and easily spotted.

She took it as a good sign that nobody yet had flown up to meet her.

She again circled what she assumed was the prince's wing of the castle, but when none of the rooms she peered into through the window looked familiar, she grew frustrated. If she thought about the layout of the palace, this set of towers should've contained the prince's chambers. But they weren't there. They weren't _anywhere._ She'd searched the other wings as well. Cerulean was pretty sure she'd even circled past her own room once, but she didn't know. As time elapsed, she grew wary of looking into the windows, for fear that it might be her own, or contain Orca, Pelican, or another dragon searching for her.

Her wings were aching and tired. Even with her higher-than-average flying stamina thanks to her true SkyWing roots, she'd been flying too long, and she felt she hadn't slept in days. Her head hurt from concentrating, and the mysterious cloud of forgetfulness still fogged her mind. Cerulean wished she could remember last night, but she could no longer maintain her focus on deciphering the broken thoughts she did have of the previous night. At last, she circled the towers once more and then dropped, alighting on a balcony with a quick prayer to the moons that she was safe here.

What now? What now that she couldn't find her way?

 _You could always go back and turn yourself in,_ a strange voice suggested.

 _No. I won't go to the Deep Palace. I refuse. I've come so far, and I'll never figure out what happened or what's going on with Orca, Eddy, or Archipelago if I go._

"Maybe I could ask Orca to stay again," Cerulean said out loud. It was a completely ridiculous idea, as the queen was firm in refusing Cerulean this wish, but the princess was tired and hopeless, and saying the sentence aloud made it sound feasible.

 _No. Not that either. Why are we suddenly going to the Deep Palace again? The queen was all about going slowly with my royal duties earlier. And now she's throwing me into the deep end. Literally._

She set down Wave's statue on the terrace and stared at it. It was weird, she thought. This morning she'd woken up, unaware of who the glass dragon was, or why she should be concerned that the dragon was, in fact, glass. But somehow, in the time she'd left her room with Pelican and spoken with Orca and returned, her subconscious mind had figured it out. Now, if she could trace that path back, maybe she could remember what had happened last night.

Right. She and Chrysocolla had gone to the library that night to meet with Eddy. Earlier, they'd tried to send a message to Spindrift and the other princes – Cerulean's animus magic hadn't worked. Instead, she'd seen the life of a mysterious SkyWing named Spire, who'd wanted to live forever. Okay, she could remember all that pretty well. Then they'd found Wave, who'd been turned into glass, but they couldn't find Eddy anywhere. So, they'd gone up to the princes' room, but encountered the guard on the way there. Cerulean had shown the princes and Eddy her true identity, or form, or whatever, and then Eddy had wanted to reveal a secret of his own. But whatever it was…she'd figured out the glass statue's identity, but her mind couldn't use the same method to remember what else she wanted to know.

 _Just go back. The Queen's looking for you._

 _No,_ Cerulean fought back. _I am not going back. Not now. I will though. I promise._

 _Go back. Go back. Go back now._ The urge was more persistent now. It wouldn't listen to her anymore. And as much as she didn't want to, she felt compelled to return to Orca. It was the right thing to do. She couldn't find her way to the princes' room from here, but she could find her way to the palace's entrance. It would be sensible to return now, when she hadn't been gone for as long, than later, when she'd surely face worse punishment. So yes. She would go back.

Besides, she figured she'd at least stop hearing the voice in her mind chant, over and over, _Go back, go back, go back now. The queen's waiting for you! Come back as soon as you can!_

Sweeping the glass figurine of Wave back up into her talons, she leapt off the balcony in flight. She twisted for a moment, trying to figure out where she was, and then, when she remembered that she actually didn't know where she was, she began following the perimeter of the palace. Eventually, Cerulean figured, she'd wind up at the entrance.

She was so busy watching the sandy shore and the waves lapping the ground that she didn't see the group of dragons flying swiftly in her direction, determined to catch her.

* * *

 _"Hey, Bolt!"_

 _The fierce, grumpy SkyWing_ _whirled around, poised for attack, already preparing to shoot a bolt of flame, despite the fact that the dragon had greeted her in a friendly manner and that she was in the SkyWing Palace._

 _"What do you want, Spire?" she spat. Smoke streamed from her nostrils, and she looked no less hostile now that she knew who had spoken to her._

 _Bolt was a war orphan. She'd lost both her parents to a huge massacre towards the beginning of the war. Though her parents' identity was unknown, most dragons believed that Bolt was related to the traitorous Kestrel – both dragonesses were fierce and grumpy at all times, and bore a very similar resemblance to the other. While most of the dragons in the area scurried away in fear of Bolt – ha, so much for the "SkyWing courage" General Titian was all about – Spire did not look intimidated at all. She approached the fearsome soldier with a smile on her thin snout._

 _"How are you?" the smaller dragon asked._

 _"We're in the middle of a war, for moon's sake," came the grumpy reply. "How do you_ think _I'm doing?"_

 _"Well, I'm doing just fine, thank you," Spire said, ignoring the hostile tone. She kept pace with the larger dragon, even as Bolt tried to widen her strides._

 _Spire was a fast dragon, and slight, which meant she was very good at what she did – she was a messenger, and carried some of the most valuable, top-secret information that was exchanged between the SkyWings and their allies. She was as fast or faster than dragons triple her size, but small enough that she was a difficult target, which meant she was the prefect – and only – dragoness that Queen Scarlet and Burn trusted to ensure messages were delivered safely. Well, trusted, might be too strong a word. More like, they deemed her harmless and non-threatening enough to do the work that they didn't want to do for them._

 _Harmless and non-threatening, ha! If they knew who she was, Spire sneered, even as she kept up her conversation with Bolt. She supposed sneering while sounding so friendly was a bit odd, but Bolt was looking determinedly anywhere except her snout, so she was safe._

 _"So, I heard Her Majesty made you sign up for the breeding program yesterday," Spire said, swerving away from the boring small talk into the matter that interested her the most – Bolt's future dragonet._

 _"Sign-up's not the word," came the red dragon's grumpy reply._

 _"Well, you're in the breeding program, then," Spire corrected without missing a beat. "If I'm to be honest with you, Bolt, I'm surprised Her Majesty the Queen kept the breeding program going, after what happened with Kestrel and all that."_

 _She looked to_ _Bolt for some sort of reaction, but the latter simply snorted._

 _"Well, aren't you conversational today?" Spire huffed. "Have you been assigned a partner?"_

 _"No."_

 _"No egg then?"_

 _"How would I have an egg without a partner, you imbecile? Your head is too filled with clouds and thoughts of the equally idiotic Brisk to actually think logically. I can't stand to talk with dragons like you."_

 _With that, the large dragoness leapt into flight and was quickly out of sight._

 _Spire sighed in exasperation. Honestly, Bolt's grumpiness was_ so _annoying. Most dragons thought the soldier was terrifying in every aspect – Spire just pitied the dragon who would never be anything more than a faceless soldier fighting another tribe's war. But Spire, no, that was not who she was, even if she was now a messenger for a queen she had no loyalty to. She was far more important than that. Oh no, Spire, now,_ she _was something. She was going to be the queen and live forever._

 _The dragons in her old life, she was sure, would probably look at her in disgust, or contempt, or confusion, because from their perspective, it looked like she was nowhere. She was a SkyWing, of all things, stuck working for Queen Scarlet in a SandWing war. Her swiftness and slightness by no means guaranteed that she would live to see peace. In fact, as the messenger, she was more likely to be killed than most of the other soldiers she worked with._

 _But Spire knew she was going to live to see the end. She knew because she'd seen it. And she knew that the brightest night was rapidly approaching, and that in order to become the immortal queen, she needed the egg. The SkyWing dragonet of destiny. And moons, if Kestrel's dragonets had not been hatched so early, if their lives hadn't ended (or started in the case of the monstrous firescales) in such a gruesome way, she was sure that they would've been what she needed._

 _But Bolt's…it, or they, however many hatched – they would look up to the three full moons and not know what a great fabulous future they had. Not for the prophecy. No, certainly not that. Who honestly believed the silly words of some pompous old NightWing? Not Spire, that was for sure. No. In the future, they held a kingdom in their talons._

 _I'm going to live forever. I've got a whole plan. I'll be immortal, the best queen any SeaWing's ever had. And Mother, you're going to wish you never had me._

* * *

"Cerulean!"

Cerulean jerked her head from the hypnotic shoreline that kept flashing past, shaking the last remnants of her exhaustion from her eyes. Her first instinct was that Orca had finally found her, and she was in trouble. She bared her teeth, an animus spell on her tongue, ready to hurl out in existence the moment she saw who had called her name.

Then she saw Spindrift's face, and Storm's look of relief, and realized that it was not the guards who had found her, thank the tides, but rather, her friends, minus Eddy and Chrysocolla.

"What in all of Pyrrhia are you doing out here?" she squeaked, surprised.

"We could ask you the same!" Storm asked. "But not now. We were looking for you. We need to tell you a few things, but not here. Spindrift – Archipelago – Freakwave – Azure – Puddle – where's a safe place to hide?"

"Why are we hiding?" Freakwave asked in alarm. "Oh wait, right. We're playing hide and seek."

The others ignored him, sensing urgency in Storm's voice. "We could go to our trench underwater," Spindrift suggested after a heartbeat. "Only we actually know where it is. No one would find us."

"We can't communicate very effectively underwater." Storm dismissed the idea. "It has to be somewhere no SeaWing in their right mind would think to look, because going there is so stupid, or because nobody knows that it exists."

"Like our trench," Spindrift said, looking offended that his idea had been rejected.

"The animus-testing island?" Azure suggested. "Nobody will use that because we've already tested this year's hatching."

"Too obvious," Storm said.

"SeaWing graveyard?" Puddle suggested.

"Ew, why would we want to go there?" Spindrift shuddered.

"Idiot." Puddle snapped back. "We don't _want_ to go there, but we have to."

"I don't like that, either," Storm replied, shifting her wings and momentarily faltering in flight. She glanced behind her nervously. "SeaWings do visit the graveyard, and besides, I feel like Orca would think of that."

 _Come back to the palace. Go now, Cerulean,_ the voice willed Cerulean. A twisting feeling overtook her stomach. She needed to get back to the palace. Whatever her friends told her couldn't be as important as returning. Besides, where were Eddy and Chrysocolla? Perhaps they could return to the palace together and look for their other friends instead of running away.

 _And Storm was really rude to you earlier. She clearly doesn't want to be your friend. Why should you go with her?_

"Let's fly," Storm instructed, beating her wings forward. "Where to?"

Cerulean blocked out the voices in her mind. She focused on what was happening now, not returning to the palace, and took a few wing beats forward. The others followed suit.

"Perhaps we could go back to the island where I was raised?" Cerulean suggested, feeling strangely optimistic at the thought of seeing her family, despite knowing they would likely not feel the same way.

"The queen would think to look there as well," Storm said. Her wings flapped, the glow-in-the-dark scales gleaming as they caught the light of the sun. "Think outside the box. Somewhere where no SeaWing in their right mind would ever want to go."

It was Archipelago who spoke. "The New Palace."

Storm beamed like a proud teacher. "Perfect. Why didn't I think of that? The queen wouldn't never think that we'd go there." She shifted her wings – they were slightly off course – and began leading the way.

"Hold it," Azure said, sounding extremely nervous. "The New Palace? What makes you think Mother wouldn't search there?"

"Honestly, Azure," Puddle replied instead of the other princess. Storm looked a bit affronted at being interrupted, but instead focused on keeping up with Cerulean, who had easily taken the lead, SkyWing blood surging through her body. "The queen's got hundreds of animus wards set up to keep Turtle from escaping and others from entering. I don't think she'd expect us to go somewhere so heavily guarded."

"But that's exactly it," Azure protested. "It's heavily warded. Surely she'd detect us if we entered?"

"You're forgetting, though," Puddle explained. "We have two animus dragons with us."

"Well, more like one and a half," Cerulean said. "Sometimes I can do magic, and other times I can't. I almost wonder if, the farther I get from the Summer Palace, it will be less likely for me to be able to cast any spells."

"One and a half animus dragons is one and a half times more than Orca ever expected to go up against the wards," Storm said. "There are, after all, at least three animus dragons that the queen actually knew about, as far as we know – herself, Waterfall, who would never, ever attempt to enter the New Palace, and you, Azure."

"And she relied on the horror stories that you'd heard of Turtle and the princesses' murder to keep you away," Puddle took over.

"So, logically speaking," Storm continued, shooting a look over her shoulder at the other SeaWing, "she wouldn't expect us to go somewhere so heavily warded, especially with what she would deem an incapable SeaWing animus." She looked apologetic. "To put it less harshly, she wouldn't expect us to go somewhere that's literally right under her nose."

"I guess that makes sense," Spindrift chirped happily. " _I'm_ just glad to get out of the palace. We've been there for ages because Mother won't let us out. And anyway, Cerulean, we've got so much to ask you and tell you."

"But we have to wait until we get there," Storm reminded everybody.

They flew on for a few more wing beats, everybody silently lost in their own thoughts. Cerulean felt a feeling of foreboding increase inside of her, and a little whisper of the old voice, the one telling her to go back to the castle, tickled her conscious.

"What about Turtle?" Azure spoke up again. "We've all heard the stories. He's gone mad. What's to say he wouldn't kill us the moment he sees us?"

"You make it sound like he's wandering freely around the palace," Puddle said.

"Well, for all you know, he _might_ be," Azure protested.

"You're an animus dragon, Azure," Spindrift said like his brother was the stupidest thing to ever live. "And while we're at it, Cerulean's also an animus. Plus, you've got Storm, Puddle, Freakwave – though he's probably not much help – "

"HEY!"

" – and I as well, so he's outnumbered."

"So, that's one and a half barely competent animus dragons and four scrawny weak dragonets against a fully grown, ex-animus, mad, insane, and probably bloodthirsty SeaWing ex-prince," Azure summed up, dread in his voice.

"Exactly," Spindrift said with confidence oozing out of his voice. "Keep up, will you?"

Azure and his brother continued to bicker. Freakwave was uncharacteristically silent, as was Storm, who seemed to be focusing her energy on keeping just slightly ahead of Cerulean.

The purple princess, meanwhile, was feeling the same amount of dread as the other animus in the group – perhaps more. This – this flying away and abandoning Orca wasn't right. She'd only escaped Pelican to find her friends, not run away into hiding. She'd fully intended to return to the queen after she'd spoken with them. And now here they were, flying away on swift wing beats. Weren't they blowing this out of proportion? Surely whatever Storm needed to tell her could've been reported at the palace?

These doubts and fears crawled into her mind, invading her gut instinct of _yes, you need to run and get away from the palace._ And then, paranoia set in.

It was the strangest thing. Cerulean had never been a confident dragon. She'd always had the feeling of being stuck inside the wrong body – a feeling that had been justified – and she'd always feared for the worst. But she'd never been _paranoid._ Not like this.

Because suddenly friends were enemies, and the moons were eyes watching her every move, and the water was whispering all her secrets for everyone to hear, and there was nowhere safe in the world, and she couldn't see, but she knew she was falling, falling, falling, and waiting for the sound of her world shattering in her ears.

She blinked and realized that she'd sped up quite a bit. Storm was puffing to keep up, and failing in doing so.

No, Cerulean couldn't run away. That wasn't part of the plan. She was needed. Needed for Orca, needed for the kingdom, needed to be queen. And as suddenly as the paranoia had set in, she was whirling around and flying swiftly back the way she'd come. Her friends called after her, but she said nothing.

 _Orca hadn't even done anything worthy of Cerulean's betrayal. Because by flying away from her queen, Cerulean was betraying her. Her friends, no, they wouldn't understand. Orca had been there for Cerulean when her own family hadn't. Orca had been the guiding light out of the darkness. She never would've been here if it weren't for Orca. Her friends – they weren't worth it. They weren't worth giving up the throne and leaving Orca heartbroken. What if, by leaving, she killed Orca somehow, of sorrow or betrayal? Who would rule the throne when Orca was dead?_

Her mind wasn't her own anymore.

The figurine of Wave was burning her talons.

So many things were happening. Her mind was chaos. Visions of Spire the SkyWing pressed into her skull, down on her eyes. _I'm going to live forever I'm going to live forever I'm going to live forever you'll be sorry if they knew who I was ha._

And then she'd dropped the statue, and the glass gleamed in the light of the sun as it fell, fell, fell, and Cerulean heard the sound of shattering eggs as the little figure disappeared beneath the ocean, lost forever.

Wing beats. She looked up, expecting to see her friends, but they were little more than specks in the distance, growing steadily nearer, but not near enough to be heard. Cerulean breathed heavily, wondering what had just happened, what she'd just done. Had she just murdered Wave, she wondered briefly, and then Chrysocolla was by her side, out of breath and exhausted but there.

"Chrysocolla!" Cerulean said, overjoyed to see her friend alive and well. "Oh, thank the moons. What happened? Last night, I can't – "

The look of fear on Chrysocolla's face silenced the princess.

"What – what is it?"

Chrysocolla caught her breath, gripping Cerulean's forearms as the two hovered in midair. Then she spoke, her voice breathless but firm. One simple word: "Run."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I can't even begin to apologize enough for my lack of presence on this cite. I could go on with excuses, but I don't want to trouble you with that. I hate to say it, but I fear that for this story, and most of my other Wings of Fire fanfics, updates are going to be very, _very_ sporadic. I'm working on updating my profile with more info on everything, but this might be the last chapter for a bit. I hate updating quickly just to say I updated, and I'd rather sit down and write the best chapter I can in the time I have for quality writing, which nowadays is rare. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed!

I'm sorry, I don't have the time to reply to all of my awesome reviewers, so just know that I'm endlessly grateful for all of your feedback and support! Thank you thank you thank you x googolplex. I figured that it would be better to get this completed chapter out, so thank you so much to:

Fatespeaker, DOY DOY DOYADOY, WofDoggy, jade334, InsertNameHere, Jaysong, Giest, thepicduck, Ghostpelt of ThunderClan, DragonFlame1380, HaveaQueenysummer, and Icestalker!


End file.
